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The University of Kansas Medical Centre in Kansas City, Kansas, USA, has donated 150 new Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) mannequin worth $20,000 to the National Ambulance Service (NAS) to care and assist babies that do not breathe on their own after birth.
The donation is part of a five-year partnership with the NAS to improve the quality of care and eliminate all preventable neonatal morbidity and mortality in the country.
The mannequins is a programme designed by the American Academy of Paediatrics to combat birth asphyxia, a leading cause of neonatal deaths.
The items are to be distributed across all 16 local NAS regional district levels, NAS schools and headquarters to ensure that Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) across the country are well-equipped with neonatal resuscitation knowledge and skills.
This follows the completion of an initial HBB training for a selected group of EMTS who will now assume roles as HBB trainers and facilitators.
A Professor of the University of Kansas Medical Centre, Anthony Kovac, said the university was committed to empowering Ghanaian EMTs with a specific focus on newborn resuscitation through the Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) programme.
He indicated that the donation was a fulfilment of a promise to invest in the health and well-being of Ghanaian children.
“The pivotal role of the trainers and facilitators ensures the seamless dissemination of further HBB training throughout all EMT regions of Ghana, contributing to a strengthened capacity to address newborn resuscitation challenges,” he said.
Prof. Kovac said to sustain those efforts, they aimed to establish a continuous partnership, foster ongoing training programmes and initiatives to further strengthen the capabilities of the country's emergency medical response.
The Chief Executive Officer of NAS, Professor Ahmed Zakariah, said the initiative was a significant step toward a healthier and brighter future for the children of the country.
He, therefore, expressed the appreciation on behalf of the Minister of Health to the team from the University of Kansas Medical Centre for their generous gesture.
He encouraged other philanthropists and organisations to continue to support the emergency response system, saying “you never can tell when you may need that service so I also hope that other people will emulate this gesture.”
