Dubai: More than 500 passengers travelling through Dubai International Airport completed a first-aid training course held by paramedics from the Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services (DCAS) on Thursday.
Marking the World First Aid Day which falls on September 9, the DCAS carried out its First Aid Traveller Workshop to raise awareness among passengers on the remedial procedures in cases of common medical emergencies.
The 15-minute workshop targeted passengers at the departures hall at Concourse D, who were then handed certificates accredited by DCAS. It featured brief lectures and demonstrations by paramedics on how to respond to a variety of emergencies until help arrives.
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Participating passengers got the opportunity to learn how to deal with cases of burns, fractures, choking, bleeding and cardiac arrests, as well as how to report the incident to emergency personnel when calling 999.
“It is crucial for most people to learn the basics of first-aid so they can immediately and correctly attend to any case,” said Khalifa Bin Darrai, executive director of the DCAS. “We held this workshop so that people can have basic knowledge on first-aid since they can be faced with a medical emergency anywhere. It could be at home, at work, or in the car,” he said.
This was the first training workshop carried out at the airport, he added. “We made sure there were paramedics who can speak different languages, so that everyone can participate in the training,” he said.
Mariam Khamis Oufi, head of the community awareness section at DCAS pointed out that there is a lack of awareness among the community on how to react to medical emergencies, whether major or minor. “Many passengers, for example, do not know what to do when they see someone having a cardiac arrest, heart attack, asthma attack or a seizure. For such emergencies, they need to stay with the patient and immediately contact 999.”
In the first station, passengers were trained on how to contact the operations room and given a brief on the contents of the first-aid kit. “We briefed them on the information that needs to be immediately communicated to the operations room such as the location, incident, number and extent of injury, which is remembered as LINE,” she said.
The training also covered how to perform the Heimlich manoeuvre when someone is choking. “This is something that frequently occurs in the community, so it was important to raise awareness on how to respond to such a case,” she said.
Paramedics also carried out CPR demonstrations in front of passengers and distributed brochures on first-aid.
Bin Darrai said the event received a huge interest from residents and visitors of different nationalities. He said they were planning to hold more of these training workshops at the airport.
