Customs Medical Team Trains Officers And Men Of Apapa Area Command On First Aids
By Asuquo Nuwak
Customs Medical Team Trains Officers And Men Of Apapa Area Command On First Aids
The Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has commenced a comprehensive basic first aid training for officers and men of the command.
During the training programme, Comptroller Emmanuel Oshoba described the initiative as a crucial investment in workplace safety and operational readiness.
In his welcome address, Comptroller Oshoba announced that the programme reflects the priority placed on staff welfare by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR.
Still, he described first aid knowledge as a universal life skill that every adult should possess, especially officers frequently exposed to high-risk operational environments.
Besides, Comptroller Oshoba revealed that simple and timely interventions such as CPR, bleeding control, choking relief and stroke recognition often determine whether a victim survives, fully recovers, or suffers preventable long-term damage, warning that the absence of first aid capability during emergencies could lead to avoidable tragedies.
Aside from this, he said customs personnel sometimes operate in locations where doctors, nurses and paramedics are not immediately available, making it essential for officers to serve as first responders. He is quoted as saying that: “The person standing next to you could be your emergency nurse or paramedic before a doctor is reached”.
He noted first aid’s role in reducing injury severity, controlling bleeding, relieving pain and stabilizing victims who may be close to losing consciousness.
Comptroller Oshoba who acknowledged that some officers are familiar with first aid procedures, also urged them to treat the programme as a vital refresher training program, encouraging first-timers to fully engage with both the theoretical and practical sessions, while stressing that hands-on application is key to mastering emergency response skills.
Comptroller Oshoba who formally declared the training programme open, expressed confidence that the participants would gain valuable competencies, while describing it as “time well spent” for the command and the Service at large.
In his remarks, the Medical Team Lead and Zonal Medical officer for Zone B, Comptroller A.S Aku, guided the officers through hands-on sessions where every participant had the opportunity to demonstrate and practice CPR and techniques to restore someone choking.
Comptroller A S Aku is quoted as saying that: “The truth is that when there is an emergency, you are a first responder. What you do in the first few minutes before help comes is very crucial. We are here to practice the basic skills that could save lives.
He is quoted as saying that: “At the end of the exercise, we should understand the four goals of first aid and identify the different types of first aid, and when to administer them. We should also know about those techniques that we need. We have been encountering a lot of conditions whereby our bodies, our families, our friends require some form of assistance from us as a first responder. But most times, we panic”.
He said the medical training included how to do CPR, dealing with bleeding, gunshot incidents, bone and joint injuries, among others.
A press statement made available by the command’s Public Relations Officer, SC JT Ayagbalo, said the highpoint of the training programme was the presentation of Customs Medical Corps First Aid manual by the Zonal Medical Officer, Zone ‘B’ Customs Headquarters to the Customs Area Controller, Apapa Command, Comptroller Emmanuel Oshoba.
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