Lebone College recently brought first-aid training to about 50 residents at Kalafong Hospital.
The effort forms part of the Gauteng Health MEC’s initiative to bring first responder training to Tish (townships, informal settlements and hostels) communities.
The programme was launched by the Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) and Lebone College of Emergency Care (LCOEC) on March 8 in the Kwa-Masiza Hostel in Sebokeng, Sedibeng.
College spokesperson Lesego Mpeta said the college has been rolling out these training workshops free of charge throughout the province all year.
“We want the informal community members to be trained as first responders so whenever there’s an emergency, residents can assist while waiting for medical personnel to arrive,” Mpeta said.
The programme is aimed at equipping underprivileged communities with the necessary skills to help save lives while waiting for professional help from emergency personnel, hence the title “first responder”.
One of the reasons for this programme is because research shows that in over 90% of medical, trauma and suicide incidents, as well as with accidents, communities are not properly equipped to respond to the emergency confronting them.
Mpeta added that the attendees were aged 35-60.
The topics the training covered included haemorrhage control, burn treatment, fractured and dislocated bone treatment, seizure treatment, choking, CPR, first aid awareness and tools, and hyperthermia.
It wasn’t just locals that attended the session, but residents from all townships around the metro, including Soshanguve, Mamelodi, Hammanskraal and more.
LCOEC is the only college in Gauteng providing training in emergency medical care.
“2023 was a great year for us, I’m not exactly sure about the figure, but based on all the training we’ve done this year, we’ve reached close to 3 000 community members. With the Tish programme that we do with the office of the MEC, we’ve reached between 1 500 to 2 000 more people,” said Mpeta.
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