Within the last two years a total of 190 employees of Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) have been trained and certified as first responders.
Another 82 employees from seven regions graduated on Monday at GWI’s head office in Georgetown.
The employees were trained by medical personnel from the Non-Profit Organisation, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Guyana as GWI continues to prepare a workforce that is skilled and prepared for challenges which may occur in the environment.
Director of EMS, Dr. Zulfikar Bux during remarks at the ceremony said the level of engagement and willingness to learn is at a higher level amongst GWI’s workforce.
He commended the newly certified first responders for their commitment to the training.
It was noted some of the participants having already applied their training to assist friends and family members.
Dr. Bux urged the first responders to desist from practicing what has become the norm of capturing accident victims on social media in the moments when they need assistance.
He told them to put their phones in their pockets and instead pull out the skills which they would have acquired to assist members of the public
Meanwhile, Dr Bux commended GWI’s Managing Director, Dr Richard Van West-Charles on this initiative.
He assured that GWI has the support of EMS.
GWI’s Managing Director, highlighted the importance of the training as he pointed out that the work of the company is driven by its human capital, which is required to be healthy so that they can provide a good services to citizens.
He said that the training will not only benefit the participants and their GWI colleagues, but also their family members, the company’s customer base, community members and the country at large.
Dr. Van West-Charles noted GWI will be conducting refresher courses and also build on what the first responders would have learnt.
Further, Dr Van West-Charles highlighted that with only Region One employees trained, more hinterland employees need to be trained.
GWI’s Health and Safety Manager, Christopher Cathro during brief remarks said every employer has a legal and moral obligation to provide its employees with a safe and healthy workplace.
He pointed out that faster emergency response can save lives in the workplace and leads to faster recovery time which then results in less downtime.
.
