Fiji

Achievement Report
August 2014
Education Enrichment: Health and Safety

FIRST AID TRAINING FOR WOMEN, CHILDREN, AND TEACHERS

Objective: To train teachers, students, and community members in emergency first

response and secondary care skills.

GVI is dedicated to improving health first aid provision in Fijis remote schools and
communities. By providing Emergency First Response training to teachers and community
members on our project sites, GVI project teams aim to improve emergency response
capacity and create a safer environment for children and community members.



Summary: For the remote
communities in the Yasawa
Islands or the rural coastal
villages of Dawasamu,
professional medical care is
not easily accessible. There
is one doctor and nurse
responsible for the 4
villages and 2 schools on
Nacula Island and in
Dawasamu up to 5 villages
rely on the basic facilities
of one small nursing
station. By addressing the
issue of first aid provision
in local schools and
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communities, this initiative has not only improved awareness and emergency response skills
but has also opened up a forum for discussing emergencies and contingency plans for
schools and communities in these remote areas. In response to an observed overall lack of
first aid awareness this training has been designed to be easily accessible and focuses on key
first aid, CPR and safety related skill development.

First Aid workshop at Ratu Meli Memorial School

6 Teachers trained
25 students trained
Program delivered by 4 GVI volunteers and 2 GVI staff

The Yasawa islands are remote and transport options to the facilities of the mainland can be
complex, in some cases emergency situations require costly helicopter or seaplane
evacuations to the nearest hospital. For the communities the island chain, the sea is an
integral part of their way
of life and as such,
accidents at sea are a very
real danger. CPR can
improve the chances of
resuscitating
non-
breathing victims of water
related
incidents.
Pursuant to this, GVI
approached Ratu Meli
Memorial School (RMMS)
teachers with a program
of basic emergency first
responder (EFR) training.
With the assistance from
marine research and
conservation volunteers,
GVI staff began the training with a class for years 7 and 8. The students were taught about
accident scene assessment, breathing check, CPR and serious bleeding treatment. The
children were attentive, receptive and enjoyed the interactive learning process. Each child
had the chance to practise CPR on the dummy and took turns bandaging their friends.

The children were then given a lesson on sea safety. This included information on buddy
systems, currents, the importance of telling someone where you are going, and a lesson on
how to make a surface marker buoy out of recycled materials. This was in response to many
spear-fishers being spotted without maker buoys in areas of high boat traffic.

A first aid training program for the school teachers then arranged for after school hours.
Teachers in Fiji are not required to have any first aid training and as such, only one teacher
at Ratu Meli Memorial School had prior knowledge of CPR. The training provided by GVI
taught scene assessments, breathing check, CPR, drowning response, spinal injury response,
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and serious bleeding and choking response skills. The different approaches to the treatment
of adults and children was highlighted in each session. It was emphasised that it is
particularly important for teachers to be aware of multiple ways to treat choking as this
hazard is more common for children than for adults. The teachers were then given a
certificate acknowledging their completion of the first aid class and contributing to
professional development. The children were also awarded a certificate which will be added
to their secondary school applications.


Community First Aid in Navotua Village

10 women trained

Like many remote villages in the
Yasawas, Navotua located on the
northern coast of Nacula Island does
not have an easily accessible health
centre. In tropical climates, even
small wounds can become badly
infected and pose a serious risk if
left untreated. Unfortunately, it is
common for simple ailments to be
addressed only once they become
serious. The aim of the first aid
sessions, therefore, was to provide
basic information which would help
to mitigate such issues. The
community volunteers based in
Navotua decided the best way to
disseminate first aid information
was through the well-established
womens group due to the fact that
women are traditionally the main
care providers for the family
structure.

All information was delivered in practical workshop style sessions which allowed the
participants to practice simple first aid techniques and ask questions. Topics covered
included; emergency first aid, rehydration solutions, bleeding, heat stroke, breaks and
sprains and infection prevention and treatment. These topics were selected because they
require immediate attention which can be carried out within the village before seeking
professional medical attention. Informative posters were made by GVI volunteers prior to
the practical workshop; these were used as part of the presentation and then hung in the
community hall for future reference.


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These practical sessions were completed in conjunction with

hygiene awareness and the construction of hand washing
stations within the village. Practical workshops were delivered
on how to build these simple structures which involved a
variety of people from the youth group and womens
organisation. It is important that hygiene issues are addressed
alongside basic first aid because keeping wounds clean is
fundamental to infection prevention. Furthermore, the
likelihood of contracting common health issues such as scabies
can be decreased by following best hygiene practices.


First Aid Training for Dawasamu Primary and
Secondary School Teachers

Since the inception of the Dawasamu projects
in 2013, GVI staff have often been involved
with supporting and delivering care for various
injuries and illnesses within the local
community and especially for the children at
the local schools. This has often meant that
teachers have become reliant on GVI to
address first aid issues and provide advice or
offer solutions to the teachers. It became
clear from these interactions that training
teachers in the fundamentals of primary and
secondary care and first aid would be of
tremendous value.

GVI program leaders decided to certify two
teachers as Emergency First Responders, one
at the local primary school and one at the
local secondary school. This internationally
recognized course trains participants in
primary care (CPR) as well as non-life
threatening first aid issues. With this new knowledge, these teachers can now serve as the
designated first aid providers at their respective schools.

Over a period of two weeks, GVI led evening sessions from Babale Base to teach the new
skills required to gain the certification. These sessions had clear value to the teachers, who
had lots of additional questions and comments on the issue of health provision and
provided useful information on the obstacles to improving health amongst the students.

After the initial skill training, GVI volunteers were brought in to help with creating authentic
scenarios for the teachers to practice their skills. A short test and some paperwork followed
by which time the two teachers were well on their way to certification.

At the first school committee meeting after the training, GVI was thanked for this important
contribution to school safety. The training had a noticeable impact on the teachers who set
about discussing solutions to the management of daily first aid issues. A proposal to keep a
reserve of petty cash to pay for emergency transport was agreed to as was the decision to
contact the Ministry of Health to request the provision of basic first aid response
equipment. It was clear that the training had encouraged the teachers to take ownership of
the problem and devise their own solutions.

Moving forward, GVI will look to continue working on the issue of health, particularly in
schools, and ensure that teachers have the skills and materials necessary to assist their
students and to ensure that students education is delivered in a safe and healthy
environment.

























GVI Fiji

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