The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has started to train operatives of response agencies on the use of extricating tools.
Mr Justin Uwazuruonye, Head, Abuja Operations Office of NEMA said this in Abuja on Tuesday at a stakeholders interactive meeting on the use of extricating tools mounted on Rapid Response Vehicles.
He said emergency response services providers required regular training on the use of various tools and equipment to discharge their functions effectively.
“We have been able to establish that victims of trauma such as those involved in road traffic crashes and collapsed structures, died needlessly or were confined to wheelchairs.
“This is as a result of unprofessional handling by the spontaneous responders or first responder agencies”. “It is in view of these that the Abuja operations office of NEMA saw the need to train our critical stakeholders alongside our operational staff on the use of extricating tools,’’ he said.
He added that the training, which would be conducted regularly, covered the use of equipment for search and rescue operations. Uwazuruonye stressed that the regular training became necessary to ensure that all responders were conversant with the use of on-board extricating equipment.
“Equipment for search and rescue from NEMA are to be used in emergency response to save lives and mitigate the impact of emergencies and disasters on affected persons and communities. “This is in line with our mandate to coordinate resources for search and rescue and other disaster curtailment activities in response to distress alerts,’’ he said.
Uwazuruonye urged stakeholders to regard the training as an opportunity to improve capacity in equipment handling to heighten preparedness and sharpen their skills in the task of saving lives. In his remarks, the training facilitator, Mr John Digha, said that technology had made tasks during emergencies easier than before.
Digha, who is also a Senior Search and Rescue Officer at NEMA, charged the trainees to make proper use of the training to save lives whenever the need arose. He said that the training was divided into two sections: Safety briefing and equipment operations to equip the trainees with the requisite knowledge about handling equipment.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the tools were donated by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency to enhance emergency response in Nigeria.
Those trained were officials of the Federal Road Safety Corporation, those of the Directorate of Road Traffic Service, FCT Fire Service, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps. (NAN)
