▪INSTITUTIONS, BOTH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SHOULD HAVE HEALTH CENTRES AND TRAINED PERSONNEL TO HANDLE EMERGENCY HEALTH CRISIS IN-HOUSE.
As has been the convention, institutions, corporations, companies, factories, etc with staff strength of above 50 to 1,500 don’t have in-house health centres or trained personnel who could professionally handle emergency health crisis. Otherwise, why should a personnel on official duty having emergency health crisis be rushed to the hospital without resuscitating (reviving) him or her first as are normally required?
It happens at Churches where a Preacherman or woman collapsed before the congregation whilst preaching and none of the congregants has basic knowledge in First-Aid could come to the rescue of the dying person and in less than the mandatory three minutes of saving life could not revive the fellow back to life; position the revived personality on one side, with air circulating freely before being conveyed to the nearby health centre. In the process, such a personality died an avoidable death.
A passenger collapses in a moving Bus, Teller in one of the Banks, Driver behind the steering wheel, Lecturer or Teacher collapsing before the Class; Caterer, Market women, family members, media men and women collapsing, do these establishments have in-house health centres or trained personnel among them who could manage the situation and resuscitate the fellow before going to the next medical centre for diagnosis and treatment?
Unfortunately, 99.5% of establishments don’t have in-house health centres with first-aid personnel, or having their own trained personnel who after going through intensive training programme are certified as the institution’s FIRST-AID personnel as an extra curricula activity, given allowances in addition to receiving regular salary.
Past and present developments should serve as a wake-up call to the authorities who owned establishments; that is, Government, Corporate Executives, Entrepreneurs, Sole Proprietors, Companies Limited By Guarantee (LBG) should begin to invest in matters relating to Health and Safety for their internal and external customers (that’s the Staff, workers on payroll as well as Guests and Visitors) who transact businesses at these premises.
That as a routine exercise, internal and external customers should be randomly selected and taken through medical screening to assess their Blood Pressure, Stress Levels etc as an early warning signal to prevent sudden collapse and death. That Staff not medically fit shouldn’t be allowed to come to work but rest at either their homes or on admission at the hospital and take their medications until declared medically fit to resume work.
Once the health and safety needs of whoever enters such Corporate institutions either officially or unofficially are taken care, that would be in compliance with the Principles of DUTY OF CARE, where once you enter the premises and there are crisis or challenges, either relating to healthcare or security, the fellow would be well attended to and given the necessary attention and protection needed.
This is in line with International Best Practices and we hope Staff, Guests, Visitors, Students in SHS and Tertiary Institutions, where dormitories as well as high rising cluster of hostels would be instantly attended to and given health and safety management once they develop crisis so that the situation would not result in death before reaching the main hospitals.
Let’s change the status quo and bring healthcare management closer to the doorsteps of institutions, corporations, companies etc. Remember that saving lives take few minutes to do so if professionally managed at less costs but would cost more, rushing the collapsed person being navigated through heavy traffic and moving from one hospital to another all in vain attempts to save the dying person(s).
Establishing a healthcare centre or first-aid bay to be managed by servicing or retired health workers to be assisted by trained staff from the institution in question would help to prevent avoidable deaths from occurring.
Emmanuel Tetteh Mensah,
Executive Director,
YOUR PROCUREMENT EYE.
Email: yprocure.Eye@gmail.com
