American University of Antigua (AUA) showed their commitment to making Antigua a safer place by teaming up with the Police Training School to administer the Heart Savers Basic Life Support Program, which is designed to train persons in the lifesaving skills of both CPR and chocking relief. Part of the training will be the First Aid module, which is designed to teach rescuers to effectively recognize and treat adult emergencies in the critical first minutes until emergency medical services personnel arrive. In all, 53 Cadets, including 18 firefighters, were trained in CPR. The training was administered at the Police Training School in Longfords.

Director of the AUA Emergency Medicine Training Center Dr. Anthony Parkes said, “it was exciting to be able to assist the group with their training to become police officers and to protect and assist the community of Antigua.” After Dr. Parkes’ discussions with the commander, the decision was made to train some individuals within the force to become trainers – under the auspices of AUA. “This will give you the opportunity to become independent as a police force. As an emergency physician, it was a pleasure to be involved in the training along with our other instructors who have donated their time to make this happen.”

EMTC lead instructor Vernon Solomon welcomed the students and explained that CPR is the foundation for all high-quality resuscitative techniques. He went on to say that their role as police officers comes with a lot of responsibility and the goal of AUA is to teach them the fundamentals of CPR. Corporal Lilieth Joseph was pleased with the initiative and thanked the AUA Emergency Medical Training center. “I feel confident that the students are getting the best knowledge of First Aid and CPR and I am comfortable that they will be able to handle any situation that may arise once leaving the training school,” she remarked.