Gogos receive first aid training

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Jeffery Masiu, a first aid instructor at the Free State Red Cross, said the humanitarian society was training the elderly women from villages in Thaba Nchu to perform first aid when confronted with fainting people or those who have difficulty breathing.

“We gave them level one training, like how to perform CPR when a person is not breathing and what to do in the event of nose bleeding,” Masiu said.

He explained that CPR helps to pump the heart to get blood circulating and deliver oxygen to the brain.

Joyce Setlhare of Dipodingwaneng Trust said before she took the course she did not know what to do when a person fainted but now she knows that she must position the person’s head by the side and relax their limbs.

Lydia Lecoko from Itireleng community-based organisation said the training was necessary for them because they provide care to children living with disabilities and the elderly.

“We don’t have to panic anymore when a person is choking because we are trained in first aid,” she said.

Lecoko said she learnt that a first aid box must have a range of bandages, a pair of scissors, antiseptic solution, alcohol swabs, gloves and mouthpiece, which is used to breathe air into the mouth of a patient.

Red Cross is a humanitarian organisation providing social relief to citizens during disasters. – Health-e News

An edited version of this story first appeared in Health24.