Charlestown, Nevis Island
March 10, 2008
The need to maxamise all available training was underscored when Permanent Secretary in the Premiers Ministry Mr. Joseph Wilshire told participants at an Emergency Care and Treatment workshop, that they should embrace every opportunity for training available to them.
He told participants at a brief opening ceremony of a week-long Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) sponsored workshop, hosted by the Nevis Disaster Management Office (NDMO) on March 10, 2008, at Long Point that he was hopeful that the training they received would propel them into a cadre of trained emergency care and treatment personnel.
“I wish to urge all the participants to be open, frank and involved. I am confident that the knowledge and the skills which will be acquired should enable all to perform the necessary task should the need arise.
We are all aware, that training is important, training is essential [and] training can help to sever the shackles of dependency and disperse the clouds of ignorance. Let us therefore embrace the opportunity to transform the landscape of our island and proclaim loudly and clearly that we are truly prepared for any disaster which might threaten our mode of existence,” he said.
He thanked PAHO for its continued support and partnership with training and since preparation and raining were two factors necessary in all spheres of human endeavour if optimum results were to be achieved, the workshop was a timely and important one for Nevis.
Participants came from a cross section of the Public Sector namely Fire Services, Royal St. Kitts and Nevis Police Force ““ Nevis Division, Public Health, the Alexandra Hospital and the Red Cross.
According to the course outline, at the end of the workshop participants would be able to conduct initial rapid needs assessment at incident scenes; safely move injured patients at and from the incident scenes; recognize critical or urgent verses non patient and to be able to work in tandem with local health resources.
Other remarks came from Director of the NDMO Mr. Lester Blackette, course facilitator Special Advisor (PHO) Emergency Services Mr. Peter Burgess, and Project Officer at the NDMO Mr. Stephen Jones.