CAYHILL- Last week at the St. Maarten Medical Center, Critical Care registered nurses in ICU, ER and Anaesthesia, Emergency Room doctors, one specialist and the Ambulance department registered nurses received their Advanced Cardiac Life Support recertification from Global Medical Educational Training (GMET)/Howard University Hospital Community Outreach program.
GMET is an organization made up of dedicated professionals with the experience, dedication, commitment and expertise to assist communities, companies, organization and institutions with their emergency health care training and educational needs.
One of the trainings they offer is Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS). “This course teaches people how to be more effective and efficient when they are doing critical care cases” says President and CEO of GMET, Mrs. Doreen M. Gumbs-Vines who also works at Howard University Hospital as Resuscitation Manager.
Some of the modules taught were airway management, Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), “push hard, push fast technique”, how to run codes, give appropriate medications and do the appropriate techniques to save lives.
Studies show that when emergency responders respond quickly, they can protect the person’s brain and heart and give them an opportunity to live. ACLS is much different than Basic Life Support, it stimulates the heart, makes the heart beat faster.
The two day course was taught by Dr. Phillip Rice, who works at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and also teaches at Harvard Medical Center; Dr. Wendell Jones, Chief Medical Officer at Dallas VA Medical Center; Lieutenant Arthur Bradley, paramedic instructor, who works at the Pentagon Aero Medical Unit; and Dr. Fernando Daniels III, medical doctor at Howard University Hospital, department of Emergency Medicine and Mrs. Doreen Vines.
Dr. Rice with an ICU registered nurse, ER and Ambulance registered nurse and an ER doctor.
GMET has given emergency medical training in St. Maarten for about 20 years, previously operating under the name Worldwide International Emergency Medical Services. They have given educational training sessions throughout the Caribbean, including Tortola, Jamaica and Anguilla, and as far as Nigeria.
Critical care workers have to be recertified in ACLS every two years. “The course is to sharpen the skills of the nurses, doctors and pre-hospital providers. We are very impressed by the skills that they have. What we do is show them how to do it more effectively and efficiently and to make sure that they are aware of the current technology and trends,” says Dr. Fernando Daniels III.
Manager Patient Care, Education and Training, Mr. Antonio Pantophlet conducted the pre-training for the ACLS course in April-May. “We are pleased to have a total of 37 persons recertified in ACLS. By the end of this year, we will have a repeat of this training for our medical specialists and for general practitioners on St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius.”
The SMMC will continue to recertify their staff and extend the training to other critical health care providers, because it is important that they enhance their skills in treating victims of cardiac arrests or other cardiopulmonary emergencies.
In photo: SMMC Director Kees Klarenbeek, GMET CEO and President Mrs. Doreen M. Gumbs-Vines and Manager Patient Care, Education and Training Mr. Antonio Pantophlet