South Sudanese learn heart resuscitation skills from Chinese doctors
Several South Sudanese students of nursing and midwifery are now very much aware of treating and handling cases of cardiac arrests and other complex heart conditions after learning from Chinese doctors.
Hakim Martin, a 25 -year -old student of midwifery at the Juba college of nursing and midwifery, said on Wednesday that he is grateful for having learnt these skills from members of the 9th batch of the Chinese medical team.
“I have ever done it before but not really the same way it has been taught here by the Chinese doctor, this is practical and it is a life skill that is new to me,” he told The Juba Echo in Juba.
Augostino John, 30 -year -old student of midwifery, said previously he had only been treating infants with breathing problems but not adults.
“This session was really very important and it is educative and also I picked something very important, the only knowledge I have is in helping resuscitating new born infants but cardiopulmonary resuscitation for adults I have never done it,” said John.
The Chinese medical team is conducting two day’s training for 60 students that will end on Friday in the Juba Teaching Hospital’s college of nursing and midwifery.
“I have picked something and if God put me somewhere where there is such condition I will be able to help someone,” added John.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation, and breathing in a person who is in cardiac arrest.
A cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly stops pumping blood around the body, starving the brain of oxygen.
Martha Akol, 24- year –old female student of midwifery, said she will utilize her newly acquired skills to help both young and adult South Sudanese with breathing problems.
“We were only taught about neonatal resuscitation, what I have learnt for the first time is cardiopulmonary resuscitation for adults which of course we have been taught to do 30 compressions and give two breaths using bag mask,” said Akol.
Tindilo Grace, the principal of Kajo Keji health science institute, whose students are now studying at Juba college of nursing and midwifery due to insecurity in Kajo Keji near the Ugandan border, said the skills taught to her students will help them provide first aid to patients with heart attacks.
“I am very grateful for their (Chinese) demonstration because these are life-saving skill which the students must know before they go to the field, in case they get such a case either by the roadside or within the hospital somebody collapses they will have the potential of waking that patient up,” said Grace.
She added that they will continue to invite members of the ninth batch of Chinese medical team to share skills with her students.
“We shall always be inviting them to come and share with us their knowledge, remember these countries (China) are already developed and we are yet developing, so we would want to share from the brain of the developed countries to help our children also to develop their capacities,” said Grace.
Martha Akol, female student of midwifery demonstrating cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Zhang Baohui, pediatrician with the Chinese medical team, said the skills he and his colleagues demonstrated to the students will help resuscitate people suffering from stroke and heart attacks in South Sudan.
“There many cases of people with cardiac arrests, stroke especially due to heat wave, if there are people with these skills it is very important to save lives. South Sudan needs people with this kind of knowledge and skill to treat heart conditions,” said Zhang.
