By Peng Zhengang and Jin Zheng
WAU, SOUTH SUDAN, Aug. 20 (ChinaMil) -- The 8th Chinese peacekeeping medical detachment to South Sudan (Wau) conducted first-aid skills training for troop-contributing countries (TCCs) in the Sector West of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) on August 18. The training aims to teach first-aid skills to peacekeeping staff officers of the troop-contributing countries and enhance their self-rescue and mutual rescue capabilities.
The training took place at the UN camp in Wau, a city in western South Sudan, on the morning of August 18.
Four doctors with extensive experience in first aid sent by the Chinese peacekeeping medical detachment taught first-aid skills such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation, hemostasis, dressing, and fixation in detail to the peacekeeping staff officers from more than 10 countries including Bangladesh, Nepal, Mongolia, Nigeria, and Ghana. An on-site practice was also held to ensure that every trainee had mastered the essentials of first-aid skills.
The Chinese peacekeeping medical detachment has communicated with the trainees of various countries several times prior to the training in order to learn more about their level of first-aid knowledge and better prepare for the training.
The Chinese medical peacekeepers also formulated teaching content and programs targeting prevailing issues such as imprecise environmental assessment, unclear rescue methods and wrong time control to ensure that the training is effective.
A Nigerian peacekeeping staff officer said after the training that he is very grateful to the meticulous teaching by Chinese peacekeeping doctors and he can handle dangerous situations better in the future.
The medical conditions in the mission area were limited, and most peacekeepers had weak first-aid awareness and little to no first-aid knowledge. Since the 8th Chinese peacekeeping medical detachment was deployed to the mission area in last September, they have taught first-aid skills including cardiopulmonary resuscitation, battlefield first aid and air evacuation to peacekeepers of Sector West Headquarters of the UNMISS, Bangladesh Peacekeeping Infantry Battalion, Ghana Peacekeeping Detachment and Cambodian Peacekeeping Gendarmerie for many times.