Here at ESNEFT we are playing our part to train the next generation of nurses in Africa.
The Trust’s resuscitation team have donated several Basic Life Support (BLS) mannequins to hospitals and training programmes in Malawi and Zambia.
Our link comes with Professor Chris Carter of Birmingham City University, who worked at Colchester Hospital – during his time at Colchester Garrison training critical care nurses and medics as an Army officer – to retain his Advanced Life Support certificate.
Emma Thomson, head of resuscitation services at ESNEFT, said: “We have recently upgraded our equipment and instead of keeping the old mannequins in a cupboard, there was an opportunity to support our partners in Zambia and Malawi to develop their critical care programmes.”
Chris has worked in Zambia for over 10 years, working with the Zambia Ministry of Health to develop the country’s critical care nursing programme, and has done similar in Malawi for the last five.
Our mannequins have been delivered to three hospitals in Zambia, as well as Kamuzu Central Hospital in Malawi and Kamuzu University of Health Care Sciences.
Chris said: “These donations have really enhanced what we have been able to deliver in terms of teaching and developing CPR training.
“We previously only had one or two mannequins at our national trauma workshops, whereas now we have five or six and we have teams being able to work simultaneously to deliver lifesaving care.”
Professor Chris Carter, left, donates a mannequin to a critical care nurse at Kamuzu University of Health Care Sciences in Blantyre, Malawi. Inset, Emma Thomson..