By Abubakarr Harding
Residents within the Hastings, Jui, Waterloo, Bureh, York, Wellington, and Tombo Communities benefited from First Aid Training provided by the 23rd batch of the Chinese Medical Team in Sierra Leone
The training came in the wake of the realization that most Sierra Leoneans don’t know how do an emergency first aid treatment in an emergency situation which sometimes lead to early deaths.
Dr. Zhou Xi, Head of the Chinese Medical Team intimated 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 they are in the country as a result of the bi-lateral ties that exist between Sierra Leone and China maintaining that they are helping in terms of giving out medical care expressing delight to treat people in vulnerable communities.
She furthered that most people she has treated complain about bodily pain, noting that because of the raining season she will advise people to enjoy the sunshine because it helps a lot.
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 beneficiaries residing within the Hastings Community and doubles as a Senior Nurse at the Sierra Leone – Chinese Friendship Hospital expressed optimism that 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.
