3/12/2021
Saving lives through Emergency Care Training By Marian Moraa A five-day training on Emergency Care took place at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) Rahimtula staff training center. The 20 clinicians from KNH Othaya were trained on Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support(ACLS) from the 22nd to 26th November 2021. The hospital invests in such trainings to enable Nurses, Clinical Officers and Doctors working in the Emergency Department/Casualty/ Outpatient Department to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to respond with confidence to emergency situations and to deliver safe, evidence-based quality emergency care in any setting. Basic Life Support (BLS) is a level of medical care used in emergency, life-threatening situations as the victims await professional care at the hospital. It can help people who are choking, drowning or suffering from cardiac arrest, and be the difference between life and death for some people. BLS is included in all first aid training courses, along with related life-saving techniques and procedures such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Notably, this sort of first aid training can also be particularly useful for non-clinicians to save lives. At a very basic level, BLS involves securing the proper
circulation, airways and breathing of the patient to keep them alive until professional care can be administered. Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) on the other hand allows health workers to administer care to adults that are facing cardiac and pulmonary arrests. This training not only equips them with the skills to care for such patients, but it also allows them to diagnose
such problems as well as other cardiopulmonary emergencies. It also adds on to the basic life support certification commonly known as CPR. KNH prioritizes on capacity building for all employees to develop competencies and skills that can make them more effective and sustainable, in an aim to provide the ultimate customer experience for patients and their families.
PHOTO | NICHOLASWAMALWA
PHOTO | NICHOLAS WAMALWA KNH-Othaya nurses receiving training on BLS and ACLS at KNH Rahimtulla staff training center.
ISSUE 25 | Kenyatta National Hospital Newsline
12
