As role players in the NGO space become increasingly vital, so does the need to upskill volunteers.
Red Alert collaborated with the Border Kei Chamber of Business’s Good Deeds committee throughout July to provide volunteers with free first aid training.
This followed after the committee launched a Training and Development Programme in collaboration with the University of Fort Hare during March this year to help equip NGOs operating in Buffalo City.
The eight-month programme covers aspects such as strategy, governance and ethics, budgeting, human resources, proposal writing, and marketing and taxation.
Participants are also taught presentation and communication skills which are vital for fundraising.
Committee member Linda van Heerden said trainees had expressed an interest in additional areas of training and this led to the much-needed collaboration with Red Alert.
Caron Troskie, chair of the committee, said: “Volunteers for NGOs are working at grassroots level and encounter all sorts of situations like fires, poverty, general health issues and GBV.
“Having basic emergency response training could end up being a life-saver.”
The sessions were conducted by trained Red Alert EMS and ambulance service personnel who provide emergency medical care throughout the Eastern Cape.
The scope of the training covered essential first aid, which is the basics of what should be provided in a emergency situation.
This includes CPR, treatment for children and infants in the event of choking, among other emergency responses.
Gaynor Puttergill, from Red Alert, said: “It [the training] gives them the skill set of basic first aid which allows them to implement it when they may find themselves in an emergency setting. We, Red Alert EMS, are hoping that by providing these basic skills, it will hopefully assist someone when they are in an emergency situation to save a life.
“Previous learners have commented that these skills that they have been taught are a real asset to know and will be very handy should they be faced with an emergency.”
Volunteers from Nyara Youth Development said they were grateful for the training.
“All the information we received was much needed and yes, there were some things that we know but we were not too sure of.
“We learnt that to treat a nosebleed, instead of facing your head upwards, you should face it downwards and apply pressure to the nose until the bleeding has stopped,” one of the volunteers said.
Robyn Mafanya, the founder of Nyara Youth Development, said: “Perhaps as a future development, Red Alert can look towards doing a more intensive training for trauma cases and also look to provide NGOs with first aid equipment as we do come across these emergency cases as well and for rural NGOs like us the ambulance can take an hour to reach us.
“Free skills training is always a bonus and benefits not only us but also the community.
“This should be arranged on a continuous basis,” she said.
Attendees were awarded certificates at the end of completing the training.
