SOME 82 Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) employees from across seven regions, on Monday, December 23, 2019, graduated as certified first responders, during a ceremony at the company’s head office in Georgetown.

The employees were trained by medical personnel from the Non-Profit Organisation, Emergency Medical Services Guyana, as GWI continues to prepare a workforce that is skilled and prepared for challenges which may occur in the environment.

Director of Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Dr. Zulfikar Bux, in his remarks at the ceremony, said that, based on feedback he received, the level of engagement and willingness to learn is at a higher level amongst GWI’s workforce. He commended the newly certified first responders for their commitment to the training.

According to him, a total of 190 GWI employees have been trained as certified basic first responders within the last 2 years. Seventy-three (73) were trained in 2018 and 117 in 2019 and the EMS Director said he looked forward to increasing that number in 2020.
He expressed optimism that the first responders will implement their acquired skills within their work environment and, by extension, the public domain. This was particularly expressed after Dr. Bux listened to stories of participants who have already applied said skills to assist friends and family members.

Dr. Bux took the opportunity to urge the first responders to desist from practising what has become the norm — capturing accident victims on videos in the moments when they need assistance. He told them to put their phones in their pockets, and, instead, ‘pull out’ the skills which they would have acquired to assist members of the public
He commended GWI’s Managing Director and his leadership team for the initiative of training its employees in this area. Further, he assured that the company had the support of his organisation to ensure that GWI becomes the first organisation with all of its staff trained as first responders.

Dr. Bux also expressed gratitude to his team for conducting the training.
Meanwhile, GWI’s Managing Director, Dr. Richard Van West-Charles, stressed the importance of the training as he pointed out that the work of the company was driven by its human capital, which was required to be healthy so that they can provide a good product to the citizens.

He said that the training will not only benefit the participants and their GWI colleagues, but also their family members, the company’s customer base, community members and the country at large. According to him, the participants will also be able to implement preventative measures within their communities.

Dr. Van West-Charles noted that a country that had an army of first responders bodes well in terms of ensuring that human capital is safe.

GWI, he assured, will be examining the conducting of refresher courses as well as building on what the first responders would have learnt. Further, as he highlighted that employees in Region 1 would have been trained, he expressed the desire to see more hinterland employees trained.

He congratulated the first responders and thanked them for their commitment and participation in the programme. Gratitude was also expressed to Dr. Bux and his team for conducting the training exercise.

GWI’s Health and Safety Manager, Mr. Christopher Cathro, in his remarks, stated that every employer had a legal and moral obligation to provide its employees with a safe and healthy workplace. According to him, one of the best ways to do so was through first aid training.
He pointed out that faster emergency response can save lives in the workplace and leads to faster recovery time which then results in less downtime. Another benefit of the training exercise was the reduction of accidents in the workplace through awareness.
Further, Mr. Cathro highlighted that the first responders training helps them to be more responsible with the use of first aid kits and allows for a more positive work environment, given that persons feel safer knowing there were capable persons to render assistance. By participating in the training, he said, the GWI employees were making GWI a better place and, by extension, their communities.