Submitted by brcs on Mon, 2009-12-07 23:32
Botswana Red Cross Society (BRCS), which is known for providing humanitarian aid, is making major strides in First Aid. BRCS is made up of volunteers and staff, who provide a wide variety of services, ranging from disaster relief and assistance for the victims of war, to first aid training and restoring family links. The Society is one of the leading providers of first aid in the country and helps to set national first aid standards. The Society trains its volunteers, the general public, institutions and issue certificates. In order to address the growing need for First Aid application to safeguard the lives of the people who find themselves in dire need of the service, BRCS undertook a 9-day Training of Trainers in First Aid at the Headquarters in Gaborone from April 15-24, 2009.
This training was motivated by the experience and knowledge that volunteers are often the first on the scene when a disaster strikes and remain active within affected communities long after everyone else has come and gone. Their local knowledge and expertise, access to communities, and infrastructure enable the Movement to get the right kind of help where it's needed fast. The objective of the training was to produce a pool of trainers who would impart First Aid skills to a targeted group of volunteers who would in turn train first time first aiders. This training of trainers came after comprehensive selection criteria to find suitable candidates for this mammoth task. The trainers underwent an examination to gauge their theoretical and practical skills level. The participants were drawn from a pool of volunteers from Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland.
The participants were examined and awarded certificate after the training. BRCS elicited the skills of a professional Instructor, Mr. Yvo Van Werde who works for Belgian Red Cross Flanders. Mr. Van Werde is an Instructor (Teacher for New Teachers in First Aid) by profession.
BRCS First Aid programme is a commercial component and is therefore almost self supporting. First Aid Training to companies and individuals is done at a cost and first aid kits are also on sale. For more information on the BRCS First Aid Programme, please liaise with Cassius Mmopelwa , Marketing and Communications Manager at BRCS.