Mr Prosper Douglas Bani, the Minister of the Interior, has pledged government’s readiness to ensure that officers of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) received the best of medical care.

This, he said, would not only boost the manpower resource base of the organisation but would also motivate the officers to give off their best.

Mr Bani said this during the inauguration of a medical centre for the staff and families of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) at the Fire Training Academy in Accra.

He said the Government was aware of the difficult conditions under which the officers worked, adding that efforts were being made to ensure that they operated under improved conditions.

He expressed the hope that the project would serve as a stepping stone to the greater aim of getting a fully-fledged hospital for the GNFS.

“It is my hope that the inauguration of this facility will mark the beginning of the creation of additional medical facilities in the other regions of the country so that the personnel and their families will also have access to free healthcare when necessary,’’ he said.

Dr Albert Brown Gaisie, the Chief Fire Officer, said the establishment of the medical centre was necessitated by some of the challenges that officers faced in the performance of their duties such as smoke inhalation and other manner of toxins.

“This situation usually affects the health of firemen and women negatively and as a result make them develop certain terminal diseases such as kidney infections and heart problems in their old age,” he said.

He said the medical centre would cater for the staff and family members of officers stationed in the Greater Accra and Tema regions only.

He expressed the hope that the centre would, in the near future, be transformed into a fully-fledged hospital to cater for the health needs of personnel and their dependants.

In a related event, 500 trainees under the Fire Module of the Youth Employment Agency, (YEA) on Friday passed out at the Fire Training Academy in Accra after a three-week training programme.

The trainees, who would be sent on attachment to fire service stations in the Eastern and Brong Ahafo regions, were trained in GNFS Organisation, Basics of Combustion, Communication Skills, Bush Fires and Electricity.

They were also taken through Organisational Discipline, Fire Safety, Physical Training, Ranks of the GNFS, Foot Drills and the Chemistry of Combustion.

Addressing the trainees, Mr Luke Attazona, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer, YEA, appealed to them to give off their best in performing their duties as the best ones would be recruited into the GNFS after two years.

He said the trainees were not fire fighters but would only serve as community fire protection assistants whose main work would be to assist GNFS personnel in educating people on how to prevent fires.

Community Fire Protection Assistant (CFPA) Charles Teye was adjudged the Best Trainee in Foot Drills, CFPA Prince Biney was adjudged the Best Trainee in Academics, and CFPA Solomon Agyapong adjudged the Overall Best Trainee.