Kumasi, May 24, GNA - A 10-day training course on trauma care, emergency medicine and disaster preparedness for some health personnel from the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) and other health facilities in Kumasi as well as security and emergency response personnel opened in Kumasi on Thursday.

The course is being organized by the Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI) as part of its collaboration with the Kumasi. It is aimed at upgrading the skills and knowledge of the 30 medical and emergency personnel in emergency preparedness. Speaking at the opening ceremony Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of KATH, said the training programme had come at the right time when the government was constructing a modern Emergency and Accident Centre at the hospital.

This, he said, would help prepare the personnel to manage emergencies at the Centre.

Dr Nsiah-Asare said there was the need to frequently upgrade the skills of medical personnel to handle accident cases at the Out Patient Departments (OPDs) to reduce deaths. Madam Patricia Appiagyei, the Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive, said the choice of KATH for the training programme was appropriate since the hospital handled most emergencies resulting from accidents. She said there was the need for efficient human resource in trauma management, especially during the CAN 2008, and urged the participants to take the course serious to acquire the necessary skills required for effective emergency care.

Mrs Abenaa Akuamoah-Boateng, MCI Ghana Project Manager, said the MCI, of which Kumasi was benefiting, was an urban component of the Millennium Villages Project which was being implemented in the Amansie West District.

She said the training course, which was being supported by the government of Israel Foreign Ministry, was part of the social services programme to equip the participants to be able to respond appropriately to emergencies and disasters.