Health professionals trained on use of AED machines

AS part of efforts to respond effectively to cardiovascular diseases, including cardiac arrest in hospitals in the country, some 120 health professionals are being trained on the use of automated external defibrillators (AED) machines.

AEDs are portable electronic devices used in reviving persons who suffer a sudden cardiac arrest, a condition which usually occurs when there is a disruption in the heart's electrical activity that causes it to beat dangerously fast (ventricular tachycardia) or irregularly (ventricular fibrillation).

Beneficiaries of the two-day training session, which opened in Accra yesterday, were drawn from the Greater Accra Regional Hospital in Accra and other private and public hospitals, including the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, La General Hospital, Mamobi Polyclinic and the West Africa Rescue Mission.

It was organised by the Rotary Club of Accra-North, in collaboration with Africa Partners Medical Ghana (APMG), a non-governmental organisation.

Rationale

A Board member of the APMG, Dr Teddy Totimeh, explained that some health professionals in the country did not know how to operate the machine.

He attributed the situation to the scarcity of the machine in many hospitals which made it difficult for some doctors and nurses to get hands-on experience on the use of the machine.

According to him, with emerging fast-transforming technologies in the health sector, it was imperative for health professionals to regularly acquire training to enhance their standards for quality healthcare.

“The first part of the exercise is dedicated to equipping the trainees with basic life support skills, while the second part is to offer them advanced cardio life-support skills to be able to handle emergency cases with ease.

“The AED has become standard practice with respect to protocols for resuscitating people with cardiac arrest. The challenge is that Ghana has not built the core of people who know how to effectively use the device,” he added.

Rotary Club

The President of the Rotary Club of Accra-North, Mr Jonathan Bartels-Kodwo, said the decision to organise the training was in line with the club’s agenda to promote effective health delivery services in Ghana.

According to him, the Rotary Club had sponsored the immunisation of 2.5 billion children against polio globally.

The president, however, appealed to the government to support its efforts by ensuring that the devices were installed in all hospitals and ambulances also equipped with the device to enhance emergency care delivery.