A SUPPORT group in the country has trained more than 1,200 volunteers to offer first aid to Covid-19 patients and others during the last two years.
Bahrain Red Crescent Society (BRCS) first aid committee head Kadhem Al Qallaf said the brave men and women were present at all exit and entry ports, quarantine facilities and field intensive care units (ICU), catering to people in need besides responding to general emergency calls.
“First aid training during Covid-19 war was tailored as it was a new experience for all of us,” Mr Al Qallaf pointed out.
“The primary challenge was to instill confidence in the first responders as there was a risk involved in dealing with active Covid-19 patients. More than 1,200 volunteers came forward willing to take up the challenge.
“We (BRCS) trained them – both online and in person. Today we are proud that the country has a strong first-aid trained volunteer team that can respond to any such pandemics in future.
“BRCS had an active youth committee, which we merged with the first aid committee, adding energy to the team.”
To mitigate the risk of volunteers getting infected, training modules were developed in accordance with medical protocols.
“This included avoiding close contact with infected people and disposing of equipment used during the first-aid procedure properly,” the senior BRCS member said.
“Volunteers were primarily trained on various levels of precautionary measures and equipment to be used to reduce the risk of transmission.
“It included safe distance practice, such as when you share a breathing zone, recording the symptoms, and calling 444 in case of emergency.
“After administering first aid, the next step was to train volunteers on safe discarding protocols for disposable items like clothes, masks and gloves used by the infected.
“Then came self-hygiene – including sanitising and hand-wash, as well as disposing the personal protection equipment in the correct manner.”
Mr Al Qallaf, who had deployed a team of 65 volunteers at Bahrain International Airport, said the challenge was clusters of volunteers falling ill despite precautions.
“We had a situation where 10 people got infected with Covid-19 at the same time and went into isolation – and the numbers (of volunteers) dropped to 45 at one point,” he said.
“The number was too low at a time when we were facing a peak of infections – it was a challenge – both finding replacement and boosting the confidence of the rest of the team.
“There were also volunteers who backed off after seeing their friends getting infected last year and during late 2019, people were afraid of the virus.”
In July, BRCS signed an agreement with Bahrain Airport Company to organise its volunteers at the airport. They were trained to deal with all groups of people in the event of a pandemic, and disseminated advice and instructions developed by TeamBahrain via the BeAware application.
The BRCS, which is made up of 90 per cent volunteers, also has four ambulances on standby functioning under the national ambulance scheme.
Last week, the GDN reported that more than 150,000 Red Crescent volunteers were providing humanitarian aid on the frontlines of the Covid-19 pandemic across the GCC.
raji@gdn.com.bh
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