Training medical heroes

TDT | Manama

More than 1,500 medical professionals including doctors, nurses and those in affiliated occupations have been trained at the Crown Prince Centre for Training and Medical Research on various ways to battle the coronavirus (COVID-19), it emerged yesterday.

The training has included intensive workshops incorporating the World Health Organisation (WHO) instructions and the latest global techniques to combat the disease. Royal Medical Services (RMS) Commander Major General Professor Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa commended the pioneering role that the Crown Prince Centre has taken within the plans developed to combat COVID-19.

He stressed that the courses and workshops held at the centre are an essential source of the national efforts fighting the coronavirus, which are being led by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister.

The Crown Prince Centre’s director Brigadier Dr Khaled Abdul Ghaffar Abdullah stressed the important role of the centre at this stage. He noted that more than 150 workshops have been conducted in various specialisations, and a number of doctors and specialists from Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) Hospital have participated, along with many from the Gulf and around the world such as from the US, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Ireland.

The centre includes rooms and medical halls equipped with the latest technology in medical education such as robots, simulators, teaching dolls and scientific laboratories. This help creates an atmosphere that simulates those in hospitals and operating rooms, and therefore allows for practical training in various scenarios, he said.

Meanwhile, Continuing Education for Doctors head and supervisor of specialised training workshops to combat COVID-19 at RMS, Colonel Dr Nayef Abdul Rahman Lowry, confirmed that the centre has taken the lead in training medical staff in the Kingdom within the directives of the national medical team battling the coronavirus.

Dr Lowry revealed that the training of the more than 1,500 medical professionals includes dealing with existing cases of COVID-19 and using the latest artificial respirators.

Intensive training sessions devoted to respiratory therapy have also been held, along with dealing with critical existing cases, especially in light of the recent construction of the state-of-the-art field Intensive Care Unit at BDF Hospital.

Courses and practical workshops on how to protect one’s self and patients have also been conducted, in accordance with the approved standards for personal protective equipment.

Dr Lowry noted that these courses and practical workshops will continue at the Crown Prince Centre during the coming period for employees of the RMS and Salmaniya Medical Complex.

He added that the Crown Prince Centre has harnessed all the energy from its training staff to get the largest possible number of medical professionals ready to face the COVID-19 pandemic.