Rwanda National Police (RNP) yesterday commenced a three-day fire-fighting Training of Trainers (ToT) exercise for forty-four medical practitioners operating in Northern, Western and central regions. The training was officiated by the Commanding Officer of the RNP Fire and Rescue Brigade, ACP Jean Baptiste Seminega along with Dr Theophile Dushime, the director general of clinical and public health services at the Ministry of Health. The trainees that are from District Hospitals and health centers are to be equipped with techniques and knowledge on how to respond in case of a fire outbreak. They will as well have a responsibility to engage and educate their colleagues on how to avoid fire outbreaks, as well as how to properly respond to fire threats. “Hospitals and healthy centers are some of the most critical public places that need to be protected. As RNP we have a mandate to share knowledge and skills with the public in order to ensure that every Rwandan plays a role in ensuring safety from disasters like fire outbreak,” said Seminega. He pointed out that the training comes as response to requests from different hospital directors who wanted to have their staff equipped with firefighting skills. “Although we have not had a fire outbreak at any hospital in Rwanda, we believe we must put much focus on preventive measures, this is why we are rolling out trainings to people working in public places,” added Seminega. Trainees are expected to acquire both theoretical and practical lessons in fire-fighting. In his address to trainees, Dushime reminded them that; “This training is very important considering that hospitals are places where people frequent every day, we can’t afford to put our patients at a risk of a fire outbreak. Also we have machines of all kinds which need to be protected from any fire outbreaks.” He advised them to ensure that the skills they acquire are shared with their colleagues at work and neighbours. Similarly, Police last month reached out to 50 Rwanda Correctional Service (RCS) staff and equipped them with similar skills in firefighting. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
