1,000 Nigerian students to acquire first responder skills

…As TotalEnergies, HEI partner on training

Over 1,000 Nigerian students will receive first responder skills from a training being organised by the Health Emergency Initiative (HEI) in partnership with TotalEnergies Exploration & Production (E&P), across Lagos, Rivers, and Kwara states.

The programme aims to equip over 1,000 senior secondary school students and teachers with critical first responder skills.

Following a rigorous 15-month due diligence and compliance process, TotalEnergies provided funding to HEI, enabling the organisation to expand its lifesaving initiatives to new regions.

The initiative aims to create a culture in which swift and informed action replaces passive observation (taking pictures and videos and posting them on social media) during emergencies by equipping young people and teachers with essential skills such as CPR, first aid, and trauma care.

Speaking on the partnership, Paschal Achunine, the executive director of HEI, expressed gratitude to TotalEnergies E&P for their support.

“This collaboration is a dream come true. It represents a significant step towards building a safer society by empowering young people and their teachers to respond effectively to emergencies. With the high rate of health professionals leaving Nigeria, it is crucial to strengthen the pre-hospital emergency space by training non-health professionals to save lives and improve health outcomes,” Achunine said.

The partnership aims to introduce lifesaving skills to schools by leveraging existing state government approvals for HEI to train students in emergency preparedness. It would be further boosted by the recent approval by the Lagos State government to include first responders training in the academic curriculum of secondary school students.