NEMA trains 1,600 volunteers on emergency handling

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has trained 1,600 youths as Grassroots Emergency Management Volunteer Corps (GEMVC) for quick response to disasters at the grassroots, an official, said.Mr Iyiola Akande, the South-West Zonal Coordinator of NEMA, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos recently that 'this is to ensure that as first responders, when emergencies happen, they know what to do so as not to add salt to injury.'When a road accident occurs, the people around the scene would want to assist but might not know the proper way to handle it.'If you don't know how to treat someone that has spinal cord injury, for instance, you can damage him for life.'Akande said the volunteers were trained in first aid to be able to render service to accident victims.He said that the GEMVC was one of the series of programmes of the agency, aimed at ensuring quick response to emergencies.'Apart from our scheduled programme, there are so many things that we are doing to mitigate the effects of disaster because emergencies and disasters do not give any notice before occurring.
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