Red Cross equips communities with first aid equipment
Malawi Red Cross Society (MRCS) has equipped Nsanje District’s village disaster response teams (VDRTs) with first aid equipment worth K3 million as part of disaster response initiative.
The VDRTs, which comprise Red Cross volunteers and village civil protection committee members, have been working without first aid equipment; hence, the donation is a big boost, according to the organisation’s disaster risk reduction officer Bright Magalasi.
“Our volunteers have for a long time been working without equipment that could enable them carry out their job effectively. We also noted that when there are disasters, some people experience different challenges, including getting injured, thereby needing first aid services.
“It is against this background that we thought of providing them with first aid boxes to improve their service delivery,” said Magalasi.
He said first aid equipment is vital considering that the district is prone to disasters during which people get injured and require first aid treatment before being taken to health facilities.
Nsanje Lalanje Ward councillor Hussein Jafali, whose area has benefited from the support, described the donation as timely.
“The absence of such equipment was impacting negatively on our operations as volunteers. We hope that it will improve our delivery,” he said.
The first aid equipment, which has been bought with financial assistance from Humanitarian Aid (European Commission) and Technical Assistance from Belgium Red Cross and the Netherlands Red Cross, has been distributed to nine villages in the district.
Recently, MRCS installed river gauges worth K7 million along Nyachilenda River in Chief Ndamela’s areas in the district to help prevent loss of lives due to river flooding.
