Locals trained on emergency medical programme
My advice is that every household must have the first aid kit.
Community members from several areas of the City of Ekurhuleni gathered at the Germiston Fire Station to get PIER programme training.
The CPR, fire safety, and evacuation programmes are all part of the Public Information, Education, and Relations (PIER) programmes.
On these topics, staff from early childhood centres received training.
PIER focuses on pre-incident training and preparedness rather than waiting for calamities to hit, teaching the public how to prevent all kinds of emergencies and disasters and how to deal with them when they do occur.
“By establishing safer living and working environments, the division also attempts to minimise the quantity of risk factors and circumstances to which individuals may be exposed.
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PIER is also in charge of informing the city on the activity of the EMS. In order to help communities access and receive the information they require, it has constructed BESAFE Centers in key locations,” said DEMS spokesperson William Ntladi.
Penelope Nkosi, who manages a crèche, is part of the crèches empower forum.
She said she always looks forward to this kind of training because it helps them as crèche operators to comply.
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“One is required by the department to have knowledge in fire safety and evacuations, as well as knowledge on CPR and applying first aid,” said Nkosi.
“Because we work with children we must kno.w how to safeguard them. When there is an accident we should not panic,” she said.
“I will be able to share the knowledge with my colleagues. My advice is that every household must have a first aid kit.”
Nkosi said with this training they will be able to create safer environments and remove items that can pose a risk or cause fires at their creches.
“We will now be able to administer first aid kit, use a fire extinguisher and carry on evacuation plans promptly,” said Nkosi.
Mfuneko Mfuyise, advanced life support paramedic and trainer, said the training takes two days and should it be small fires, the trainees will be able to handle it.
“As it is necessary for the general public to be knowledgeable in the application of first aid and have knowledge of the operation of the fire extinguisher, we have also taught businesses and members of the legislature,” said Mfuyise.
“The problem we’ve run into is that while fire extinguishers are located in the proper areas, nobody in the building knows how to use them.
If someone collapses in front of you, you must be able to perform CPR while waiting for the ambulance since the chain of survival starts with the first responder and continues until the individual is discharged from the hospital.
Mfuyise also advised against snapping photos during emergencies or fires.
“According to the Department of Education, students need to be taught how to utilise fire extinguishers. Enviro Serve in Thembisa was trained by us to instruct other locals,” said Enie Manzini, department official.
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“The northern region trained roughly 500 ECD’s members last year. Municipal employees, educators, and cooperatives are required to enroll members in these foundational courses,” said Manzini.
Ntladi said that although these are not certificated courses, they are being taught by paramedics and fire fighters with professional training who work for the city and have real-world experience.
This programme began in the City of Ekurhuleni and quickly extended throughout Gauteng.
“Officers decided it was appropriate to launch this initiative to inform the public about fires. People from Swaziland came to the City of Ekurhuleni to enroll in these programmes.
“‘A match is not a toy’ is a component of the PIER programmes. Visit one of our BESAFE houses or contact our head branch in Boksburg for additional details. What we do is inform the public about home fires and evacuations.
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“Keep an eye on all heat sources. We have chosen alternative heat sources, such as gas stoves, paraffin stoves, and more, due to ongoing load-shedding. Education on these heat sources is compulsory,” said Ntladi.
Contact the department at 011 999 5491/5386 if you would like to enroll in one of these courses as an individual, group, or organisation.
