23 qualify as medical emergency technicians |11 January 2013

They came from various sections of the ministry, the Seychelles Fire and Rescue Services Agency and the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA).

Their trainers came from the ministry and also the former Seychelles Institute of Management, and covered aspects like patient care and communication.

Speaking after they got their certificates on Thuday from the principal secretary for health Veronique Laporte, their representatives said they are now more confident when handling emergencies and that the course helped build not only their professional capacity but also their ability to deal with issues at a personal level.

Their trainers also said they gained a lot particularly since they were able to work together with the trainees and trainers from different backgrounds.

The trainees helped develop the curriculum so it well fitted their needs, adding to those earlier felt by the organisers.

WHO liaison officer to Seychelles Dr Cornelia Atsyor said her organisation supports Seychelles in handling emergencies and it was therefore happy to partially fund the programme, which she said showed how available resources can be better used to achieve more.

Underscoring the importance of the added skills “to help mothers deliver, stop bleeding in a patient or reassure relatives of a patient, Health Minister Mitcy Larue said the success of the course made it a model for others that may be run in the future, noting it exposed the trainees to the use of the internet.

The ministry’s director general for human resources and administration Sandra Crewe said the ministry was happy to boost the trainees access to the internet by funding their wireless connections, and even happier to see they were using it.

The organisers thanked the former trainees’ employers for releasing them to follow the course, including for many days in a row during practical sessions which took them to such places as the airport where they familarised themselves with the emergency equipment used by the SCAA.