BHB Becomes a Designated International Training Centre

Emergency Cardiac Care Courses Now Taught by Accredited Hospital Staff

Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) today announced it has been designated an International Training Centre for Emergency Cardiac Care courses. The hospital achieved this status after being monitored in March and approved in April of this year by a representative from an American Heart Association (AHA) Training Center in Colorado.

Twenty-one hospital staff members are now accredited instructors for teaching the Basic Life Support (BLS) course and a further six are accredited for teaching the Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) course. The participants who completed these courses will now be recognized as internationally certified by the American Heart Association to instruct in emergency cardiac care.

Dawn Johnson, BHB Training & Development Specialist for Education Services, who coordinated the drive for becoming an ITC, said, “This status means the hospital is now able to feed directly into the AHA’s global network of training centres, supporting research and helping to develop future Emergency Cardiac Care guidelines. As a designated training centre, AHA instructors in Bermuda may now affiliate locally. Previously, all instructors were affiliated at a training centre in the USA, which made monitoring and quality assurance costly and less effective.”

Training Centre Consultant Mary Mast, RN, said: “Bermuda Hospitals Board has an amazing group of dedicated instructors with a wide and varied knowledge base who work well together. This ITC will not only be a shining jewel in the Atlantic, but a shining jewel in the American Heart Association Emergency Cardiac Care Programme.”

Synda Perry, BHB Manager for the Nursing Staff Development Department, said: “Becoming a designated ITC confirms BLS and ACLS courses conducted at the hospital are equivalent to or better than courses taught in other jurisdictions. Hospital staff members who complete life support courses at BHB will achieve certification that is internationally recognized and transferable.”

Dr. Edward Schultz, Chief of Emergency Services said: “Achieving this designation confirms BHB’s commitment to saving lives. Cardiac disease is Bermuda’s number one killer of men and women. Being an ITC means our staff members are being trained to respond in line with international best practices. I congratulate the Education Services team and others at BHB for their continuing dedication to improving hospital services, expanding their knowledge base and making patient care and safety their top priority.”

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