The 23rd batch of the Chinese Medical Team in Sierra Leone have provided First Aid training for first witnesses in some poor localities on Sunday.
Local Communities provided with the with the training model by the Chinese Medical Team include Hastings, Jui, Waterloo, Bureh, York, Wellington, and Tombo.
The Chinese Medical Team had found out that most Sierra Leoneans don’t know how do an emergency first aid treatment in an emergency situation which leads to early death.
Dr. Zhou Xi, Head of the Chinese Medical Team told this press that in most cases when an injury or illness occurs, the decisive role of first aid is often not played by professional rescuers in the hospital, but by the first responder at the initial scene.
“One of the important skills is Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR),” she said and added that it can help save a life during a cardiac or breathing emergency.
“If someone is unconscious and not breathing normally, start CPR straight away, otherwise, that person will die in minutes,” Dr. Zhou remarked and continued that it is greatly necessary to train the public with first aid knowledge and skills.
“As far as we know, people here would enjoy this kind of activity and get the skill. And we can better understand each other and make friends by the way,” she said.
Ren Zhen a Chinese Traditional Medical Doctor who performs acupuncture used her skills to treat and train local; people. She stated that the friendships between Sierra Leone and China is strong that why they are in the country to give an aiding hand in terms of medical care and she is happy to treat people in the vulnerable communities.
She furthered that most people she treated complain about body pain, noting that because they in the raining she advised people to enjoy the sunshine because it helps a lot.
“It is an emergency First Aid training and treatment to help people understand that it is important for an emergency situation before going to the hospital. It will help save lives,” she said.
Liu Meng, a consultant at the Sierra Leone – Chinese Friendship Hospital said he is happy to see Sierra Leoneans showing interest in learning first aid treatment skills, noting that their target areas are mainly rural communities.
Kamanda Kemoh, one of the beneficiary at the Hastings Ccommunity who double as a Senior Nurse at the Sierra Leone – Chinese Friendship Hospital said his community will benefit a lot from the skills he has gained from the Chinese Medical Team, revealing further that he is grateful to see that people in his community are getting free treatments to help keep them alive and healthy.
In recent decades China has made the significant transformation from aid-recipient to aid-donor. China’s extensive foreign aid program includes eight categories: civil projects, goods and materials, technical cooperation, human resource development, health assistance, emergency humanitarian aid, volunteer programs and debt relief.
Health is a critical piece of the foreign aid program and an important avenue for China’s role in global health. Health aid is delivered through the Chinese medical teams (CMTs), hospital construction, pharmaceutical and equipment donations, and public health/health security program support including malaria and health professional training programs.
