The Ministry of Health and Prevention, MoHAP, has concluded the advanced edition of the “Heart Experts” Program which was held at the American University of Sharjah in collaboration with the National Ambulance, Ministry of Education, American Heart Association, Healthy Food Restaurants and the Recreation and Sports Complex at the American University of Sharjah.
In turn, the National Ambulance has contributed to the training of 18 students on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and response to cardiac emergencies in accordance with the latest guidelines and scientific evidence of the American Heart Association to develop students’ skills and to actively participate in ambulance simulation cases.
This comes as part of the efforts made to reinforce a healthy heart environment and the dissemination of healthy practice concepts for young people.
“Heart Experts Program is the cornerstone of MoHAP’s efforts to establish a human database from school and university students in the CPR field and to promote a cardiovascular supportive environment at the educational centers. This will qualify students to deal with all types of cardiac emergencies,” said H.E. Dr. Youssif Al Serkal, Assistant Undersecretary for the Ministry’s Hospitals Sector, noting that the primary goal of this program is to raise chances of survival from heart attacks and strokes.
Al Serkal emphasized the efficiency of emergency services at the state-owned hospitals, in parallel with boosting the social responsibility of the community to save patients’ lives, handle serious cases in record time and consolidate the culture of volunteerism in the community, especially in the health field.
Bolstering Health and Ambulance Services
“This program is part of MoHAP’s initiatives and programs to achieve the objectives of cardiovascular disease national indicator in accordance with the National Agenda 2021 with the aim of reducing complications and deaths from cardiac arrest, strokes and emergencies. This comes as part of the efforts of the UAE government through a series of sustainable programs to prepare the community members, including the students to bolster health and ambulance services in the country,” he explained.
Commending the implementation of this scientific program with the aim of training a number of students in responding to cardio vascular emergencies, Al Serkal also lauded the response of the National Ambulance to provide all the support for the success of the program in collaboration with the other partners including; the Ministry of Education, American Heart Association, American University of Sharjah and Healthy Food Centers.
While urging the students enrolled in the program to be committed to the implementation of this program, Al Serkal expressed confidence in the students’ competencies to assimilate the acquired skills and knowledge to rescue patients from the complications of cardiovascular diseases.
This would help prepare and qualify students to shoulder responsibility in the future, as well as to develop their leadership skills.
Awareness Ambassadors and Qualified Paramedics
Dr. Mona Al Kuwari, Director of the Specialized Care Department, highlighted the success of the advanced edition of the Heart Experts Program in training 18 students at the American University of Sharjah on how to deal with cardiac and cerebral emergencies, and prevention of risk factors, urging the students to convey their acquired experiences to their colleagues, families and neighbors in their residential areas.
Al Kuwari stated that students received five training sessions on the cardiovascular national indicator, factors for achieving a healthy life quality and training on the correct and rapid response in cases of a heart attack before the intervention of the ambulance team. They also obtained hands-on training on healthy shopping skills and proper rules for physical activity.”
In addition, a sustainable plan has been developed to maintain the sustainability of these activities at the university and to create a friendly and motivational environment for cardiovascular health.
First Responder to Cardiovascular Complications
For his part, Ahmed Saleh Al-Hajri, Chief Executive Officer of National Ambulance, said: “The National Ambulance is committed to delivering the best ambulatory services to meet patients’ satisfaction. Our participation in MoHAP’s Heart Experts Program comes as part of our communal initiatives aiming to foster the role of the community in spreading the ambulance culture and provide training for various community segments on delivering first aid services in the critical first minutes which are crucial in saving a lot of patients’ lives.”
“One of these programs is the “Cardiac First Responder” course, through which we provide a number of instructions and first aid response steps with the aim of increasing chances of survival rates and mitigating complications, thus the participants in these courses will become the first and most important factor in providing a series on first aid service until the arrival of the ambulance team,” Al-Hajri explained.