Red Cross trains 500 teachers to respond to election-related emergencies

The Ghana Red Cross Society says it is making progress in the training of educational workers to adequately respond to health emergencies in this electioneering.

The training involves basic techniques in administering First Aid, especially to voters who may need immediate medical attention on polling day.

Ashanti Regional Manager of the Society, Michael Kwame Asante, says about 500 teachers and other educational workers in six districts – Jacobu, Agogo, Mampong, Nsuta, Konongo and Tepa – have been trained in the ongoing exercise.

“We believe that all things being equal, they are the people that the electoral commission will be using for their activities; so when they get the training, in case of any emergency, they are there to help them,” he said.

The teachers are among groups of professionals targeted to be trained by the Red Cross Society, who will also be deploying volunteers across the country to be on stand-by to provide first aid services at polling stations.

Mr. Asante has asked the Electoral Commission to see the Society as an integral part of the whole electoral process.

“As they deploy police or the security personnel to the polling stations, if we have one first aider also there, it will give confidence to the staff working and also people that come around,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the Society, with the support of other volunteers from California University, has been training some lifeguards in communities around the Lake Bosomtwe on CPR techniques to save drowning victims.

The Lake Bosomtwe attracts a good number of revelers in the Ashanti region and beyond, especially on festive occasions. But most of the life-guards at the lakeside lack the skills to keep drowning victims alive.

“It’s very important that any hotel, guest house or event centre that has pool ensures that the pool guard also has training in First Aid because it’s not just bringing the person out of the water but the first five minutes or the golden period is critical to save lives,” Mr. Asante observed.

By Kofi Adu Domfeh