One hundred and forty employees of the Health Authority of Anguilla were certified and re-certified this week by a team of visiting senior medical experts from Maryland, Washington, DC, and Dallas, Texas.
The theoretic and practical training included basic life support, physical therapy and paramedics. One of the trainers was a Fire Chief and Paramedic who dealt with mass casualties in the 9/11 attack in the USA.
Some of the trainees did part of their certification, and re-certification, online in the advanced segment of the training. The overall training programme in Anguilla takes place every two years.
At the opening ceremony in the conference room of the Football Stadium, on Monday, March 2, Director of Nursing Services, Mrs. Alecia Haywood, said in part: “This is the appropriate time for us to be doing this training because we now have the COVID-19 virus on our doorstep. It is a time for us to sharpen our skills to ensure that we are adequately prepared in capacity building in terms of training our staff to deal with these situations.”
Facilitator for the training, Ms. Doreen Binds, expressed gratitude to the CEO of the Health Authority, Mrs. Maeza Demis-Adams, and Director of Human Resources, Mrs. Meridith Gumbs, for arranging the training. “We do not take this lightly,” she observed. “There is a special component for me to give back because my grandfather was from Anguilla. It is a proud feeling to be able to bring a group of individuals, part of my team, here, and we have done this training between Anguilla, St. Maarten and St. Kitts.
“I think as health employees in Anguilla you need to recognize that you have a very engaged and dedicated group of individuals here. Not many hospitals will do this. It is a common practice for your skills to be upgraded on a regular basis, and we are proud that those new things that come up we are bringing them here to share with you.”
