All health care workers employed at emergency sections in Sharjah hospitals are now required to complete life support training in order to reduce death and disability from heart disease and stroke.
The life support training course is accredited by the American Heart Association (AHA) and was launched last week at Al Qasimi Hospital.
“More than Dh100,000 in equipment was donated to the hospital by the support system Musanada. This system was launched last year by a royal decree to improve the health care system, which includes the areas of research and development, as well as the technical section,” said Dr Saqr Al Mualla, Deputy Chief Officer and Head of Plastic Surgery at Al Qasimi Hospital.
Reinforcing skills
The life support training centre at the hospital was an initiative from the Ministry of Health and aims to develop workplace programmes to help reduce death and disability from heart disease and stroke, in addition to reinforcing the resuscitation skills of the emergency and medical staff at the hospital.
“The life support training is specifically catered to doctors, nurses and staff working in the areas of Critical Care and Accident and Emergency Departments,” said Boubaker Beltaief, Training Centre Coordinator, Al Qasimi Hospital.
The first course was launched last week and has already trained 12 candidates.
“Through the life support training courses, health care workers will be able to recognise several life-threatening emergencies, build up data about cardiac arrest causes in hospitals, and also increase community awareness about the leading cause of cardiac arrest and prevention.”
Beltaief explained that health care workers will be certified by the AHA and be internationally recognised for two years once they successfully complete the two-day training course that also includes an online study guide.
The training centre will also train health care workers to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and relieve choking in a safe, timely and effective manner.