Koketso Maraba
 
Women at Jackson in Eikenhof, Johannesburg will now be able to respond to commonly encountered emergencies as they await professional medical assistance to arrive. This comes after they took part in the first responder training programme by the Lebone College of Emergency Care (LCOEC). 
The workshop focused on performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on victims who do not have a pulse and are not breathing, how to assist victims when they are having convulsions, how to treat critical wounds like stabs and gunshots, how to assist victims who fall from heights, how to sprain and strain, how to assist drowning victims and how to treat burns.
The community of Jackson face many challenges including Gender-Based Violence (GBV), crime, unemployment, and health and safety issues. By partnering with the LCOEC and Gauteng EMS, Tintswalo Cassandra Makhubele, the Chairperson of South African Congress of Nonprofit Organisations (SACONO) said the first responder training is the stepping stone towards upskilling the community and introducing them to various learning programmes to overcome these issues. 
"Many unfortunate incidents take place in the community including fires which result in burnt victims and loss of life. We believe that by bringing such programmes we will support the community to be self-sufficient enough to deal with medical emergencies," said Makhubele. 
"I live with my grandmother and her other grandchildren, and through the first responder training, I learned to manage wounds and fractures which will be a great help when an incident occurs in my family," explained Nomasonto Macu, a community member who participated in the training from Jackson. 
The First Responder Training will continue on Wednesday, 28 August 2024 in Braamfischerville, Roodepoort to reach more women this Women's month.  More than 3 200 individuals have successfully been trained since the start of the programme in April 2023.