By Evelyn Jock
St. Mary’s Cathedral Parish, Sandakan realised the need to provide First Aid Training to those first responders who will administer immediate assistance to any person with either a minor or serious illness or injury at the church premises. The first aiders or responders’ objectives is to provide care, to preserve life and to prevent the condition from worsening until medical services arrive. With so many people coming in and out of the cathedral, it is important to be prepared for every situation that might arise.
We had a total of 40 church members attending the First Aid Training on 22 April 2023 at the St. Mary’s Parish Hall. The training was conducted by the Training Officer from the Malaysian Red Crescent Sandakan Branch, Mr Ryan Chong Enuf Liau and his team members of 4. The Chairlady of the Red Crescent, Mdm Josie Pang Yuk Yen also graced us with her presence in full support of this programme. Mr Freddy Graman, Chairman of the Parish Pastoral Council welcomed all those who were present for the training. He explained CPR as C (Calling), P (Problem) and R (Resolution), where we are called when there is a problem and that we need to find resolution to this problem.
The participants were mostly from the Marian Mount Volunteers (MMV), Catholic Chinese Community, church members from St. Mark and St. Peter’s Chapel, Sungai Manila and other individuals. During visits from pilgrims of other parishes and rosary rally by ministries to the Marian Hill, the MMV acts as guides to lead the people for the climb. It was necessary for these guides to have knowledge of first aid as they are the first responders if any incident occurs, such as fainting, cuts, falls, sprains, etc. Moreover, the church conducts events or celebrates feast days that usually involve hundreds of parishioners, and First Aiders on site should be a priority during these events.
The supposedly 2-day training was compressed into a 2-hour training and during the training, the participants were introduced to First Aid and learnt about administering wound cleaning and dressings to stop bleeding, fractures, fainting, etc. There were also informed about the different types of wound dressings and bandaging and was also given practical training on CPR, a skill that would save lives. It was recommended that the parish should be equipped with a stretcher and first aid kits placed strategically and easily access in the church premises.
Most importantly, the participants learnt that in the event of an emergency, they should not panic. Calling the number 999 goes to the operator handling, 5 agencies, namely, the Police, Fire Brigade, Maritime Department, the Hospital and Search and Rescue. Knowledge of the right contact numbers of these agencies would speed up the responses from the respective agency.
Overall, the training was informative, engaging, responsive and fun!