Eighty-two Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) employees from across seven regions on Monday, graduated as certified first responders during a ceremony at the company’s head office in Georgetown.
A GWI release said that the employees were trained by medical personnel from the Non-Profit Organisation, Emergency Medical Services Guyana.
Director of Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Dr. Zulfikar Bux in his remarks at the ceremony said that based on feedback he received, the level of engagement and willingness to learn is at a higher level amongst GWI’s workers. He commended the newly certified first responders for their commitment.
According to Bux, a total of 190 GWI employees have been trained as certified basic first responders within the last two years. Seventy-three were trained in 2018 and 117 in 2019 and the EMS Director said he looks forward to increasing that number in 2020.
He voiced optimism that the first responders will implement their acquired skills within their work environment and the public domain. He said this after he listened to stories of participants having already applied said skills to assist friends and family members.
Bux took the opportunity to urge the first responders to desist from practising what has become the norm of capturing accident victims on videos in the moments when they need assistance. He told them to put their phones in their pockets and instead employ the skills which they would have acquired to assist members of the public
GWI’s Managing Director, Dr. Richard Van West-Charles stressed the importance of the training as he pointed out that the work of the company is driven by its human capital, which is required to be healthy.
He said that the training will not only benefit the participants and their GWI colleagues, but also their families, the company’s customer base, community members and the country at large.
Dr. Van West-Charles said that a country that has an army of first responders bodes well in terms of ensuring that human capital is safe.
GWI, he said, will be examining the conducting of refresher courses as well as building on what the first responders would have learnt.
GWI’s Health and Safety Manager, Christopher Cathro in his remarks stated that every employer has a legal and moral obligation to provide its employees with a safe and healthy workplace. According to him, one of the best ways to achieve is through first aid training.
Cathro, the release said, highlighted that the first responders training helps them to be more responsible with the use of first aid kits and allows for a more positive work environment since persons feel safer knowing there are capable persons to render assistance.
