Transport sector participants trained as first responders
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Fifteen participants from across the transport sector have received certification following completion of the Second Transport Operators Blue Ribbon First Responder Training and Certification Programme.
The programme, which provides first-responder training for persons within the transport industry, equips them with the skills necessary to render assistance on a traffic crash site. It was spearheaded by Transport Operators Development Sustainable Services (TODSS) and British Caribbean Insurance Company (BCIC).
Speaking at the presentation ceremony, held at the University of Technology Jamaica on Thursday, August 11, Minister of Transport and Mining Audley Shaw encouraged private- and public-sector entities to forge partnerships to enhance Jamaica’s transportation network.
In a release on Friday, Shaw commended TODSS and BCIC for partnering on the initiative, under which public transport operators are trained to become first responders to traffic crashes as well as road-safety ambassadors within the public transport sector.
Shaw said his Ministry was in full support of the project as it is taxi and bus drivers, in many instances, that transport injured persons to the hospital when traffic crashes occur.
“I am encouraged that this will aid in saving more lives on our roads. This Blue Ribbon First Responders Training is a good step and I support it wholeheartedly” Shaw said.
“I want to encourage all the responders here today to take this road-safety ambassadorship with utmost respect and dignity as you aid us in preventing deaths and serious injuries.”
Programme participant and chief executive officer of 876-On-the-Go Ride Share Company, Olivia Lindsay, described the training programme as a step in the right direction and highlighted the benefit of having persons with the requisite knowledge on hand to render immediate assistance at a crash site.
“Road safety is everybody’s business, and the right thing is to have persons trained and so equipped to assist until professionals get there. There are simple things that can be done to alleviate the problem or to prevent further damage,” the CEO said.
Lindsay explained that the programme seeks to assist with eliminating or decreasing road fatalities by drilling down and looking into what can be done to save lives on the roads and to encourage others within the transport sector to do the same.