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Heartline Magazine April - June 2004
Volunteers for Life
'If someone at your home workplace collapsed with a stroke
or heart attack, would you know what to do?
Chances are that the answer is "no."
Playing a major role in remedying this situation is The
Heart Foundation of Barbados (HFOB), whose Emergency Cardiac Care (ECC)
programme provides training in Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) and Advanced
Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) for medical and paramedical personnel as well as lay
persons in organizations, arid individuals across the community.
The BCLS course teaches prudent heart living, and how to
recognize an emergency of the heart and to act upon it. It also gives
instruction in Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).
The ACLS course provides a higher level of instruction and
is more suited to medical and paramedical personnel. Dr. Brian Charles is
director of the ECC programme, and heads a team 14 volunteer instructors,
including paramedics, ambulance workers, nurses and firemen, who teach the BCLS
course, as well as 8 ACLS instructors, who are doctors, nurses and specialists.
Two key figures in the programme are Errol Maynard and Gina
Pitts. Mr. Maynard is the Chief Cardiac Support Instructor and is responsible
for the Basic Cardiac Life Support programme. He conducts CPR and First Aid
courses, as well as trainer courses, and he works closely with Dr. Charles in
the planning and co-ordination of Instructor courses.
Mr. Maynard became a volunteer with the HFOB in 1994,
shortly after he had successfully completed a First Responders Course and a
First Aid Course at the Defense Force.
"I was part of a group from that course that felt that we
could use our newly acquired skills to make a contribution to the work of the
Heart Foundation" he said, "so we indicated our interest to Dr. Naidu, who was
at the time conducting the courses, and he was happy to have us assist him."
But he went further. In 1996, Mr. Maynard, along with
another volunteer, Shirley Gill, was sent to the Good Samaritan Hospital in West
Palm Beach, Florida, where they increased their proficiency in cardiac care, and
became instructor trainers. Mrs. Gill is currently director of the HFOB's
Cardiac Disease Prevention and Rehabilitation Programme.
As well as conducting courses locally, Mr. Maynard has
traveled widely across the Caribbean, including to Tortola, St. Lucia, Trinidad
and Tobago, St. Maarten and Jamaica to conduct Basic Cardiac Life Support as
well as Instructor training courses.
Married and the father of two, aged 10 and 5, Mr. Maynard is
acting subofficer with the Barbados Fire Service. He is also currently pursuing
a degree in Management at the University of the West Indies and has just
completed his second year of studies.
Where does he find the time in all this to be a volunteer
with the Heart Foundation?
"It's a tight fit," he admits, "but I make it. Although this
digs into my time with my family, they understand. The bottom line is that I
like what I do, and they know that and are prepared to make allowances. He
continued, I am particularly committed to the work of the Heart Foundation.
Basically, I like to share with people and since, through the Heart Foundation,
I have been able to acquire certain skills, I am happy to conduct them to help
others wherever necessary, and to pass them on to others.
Gina Pitts has also done her bit of traveling on behalf of
the Heart Foundation of Barbados. Already smce joining up as a volunteer in
2002, she has visited Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago to conduct courses in BCLS,
as well as instructor training.
Born in England to Barbadian parents, Mrs.Pitts is a
lecturer/practitioner in nursing at the Barbados Community College, having
Joined that institution in 2002. Before coming to Barbados, Mrs. Pitts was
Health Care Service Manager at Cranfield University in Bedfordshire, in the UK,
a position she held for 7 years.
When she became aware of the work of the Heart Foundation of
Barbados, she immediately wanted to join. "I became a volunteer m the summer of
2002", she said. "It was natural, and it fitted in well with what I did in the
UK. Cranfield was initially only an aviation University, however it now includes
a school of management and 4 other schools, and, my career has always gone down
the road of cardiac intensive care nursing.
In fact I developed a course in chronic disease management
at Oxford Brookes University and then ran courses in CPR for 250 first aiders at
Cranfield"
When she joined the HFOB's ECC programme, she was
immediately drafted into the CPR programme. One memorable assignment was
instructing over 600 children at the National Sports Council's Summer Camp. Mrs.
Pitts is now the HFOB's project co-coordinator and teaches the BCLS and First
Aid courses. She is also an Instructor Trainer for BCLS trainers. She also
produces and writes the ECC Newsletter, which highlights the activiities of the
ECC programme, and is widely circulated by e-mail locally and overseas.
An interesting aspect of her work is that she gives talks on
anti-smoking to schools and organizations in a govemment-sponsored programme,
with the support of PAHO and the WHO.
Married and with two children, aged 13 and 8, Mrs. Pitts
also has to juggle a tight schedule. "E-mail is a blessing," she said, "and is
perhaps my greatest way of communication. Other than that, I just have to make
time. I don't like saying no but it has to become part of me to stay focused.
The Heart Foundation is a worthwhile cause, and is worth every effort."
Mrs. Pitts commented: "CPR training is very beneficial, not
only to businesses and to other organizations, but also to lay persons. More
family members have the knowledge to activate "The Chain of Survival." Actually,
we are seeing a growth in persons, including nurses, who are doing the course,
and that is good. It's starting to happen now. But the people who are critical
to the delivery of the service must be trained first."
Mr. Maynard said that while there is a general interest in
CPR most people are really only motivated when something happens, either to
themselves or to a family member. "Then it's crisis time," He said, "but that's
human nature".
Some people do approach us with an interest in getting
training, but usually we have to be the ones doing the running, as it were.
Perhaps there needs to be a greater marketing effort on our part to get the
message to busmesses and other organizations, and especially to schools."
He agrees, however, that there has been of late quite a bit
of interest in the training. "Courses are normally held roughly every month.
However we're in a pretty hectic period at this time, with courses bemg held
every week.
That's great! Right now we're conductuing CPR courses for
staff of the Port Authority as well as the Barbados Terminals; and, there are
other projects on stream. We're also currently training more tramers, as there
is a shortage in this important area."
The chain of survival is strengthening.
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