Dr. Mrs. Chineze Eno Nwauwa is a woman of many parts. But for years, she has been deeply involved with resuscitation and emergency care as a co-founder and Executive Director of Emergency Response Services Nigeria Limited. In this chat with LAOLU ADEYEMI and OLUSHOLA RICKETTS, she unburdens her heart on why she is sold on ensuring that every Nigerian, especially women, are trained on how to handle medical emergencies and help keep more people from untimely deaths.CHINEZE Eno Nwauwa has over the years held different management positions both in the government and private sector before her present preoccupation as the Executive Director, Emergency Response Services Nigeria Limited.Emergency Response Services is an organisation engaged with the training of doctors and nurses in basic and advance life support. They also train the public in basic emergency response skills, spreading the campaign about why it is necessary for the ordinary man to be trained on how to handle medical emergencies.'Many people die in Nigeria because those close to them at the time of the incident couldn't do anything. When we talk of collapsing in cardiac rest, for example, the time of grace is between zero to ten minutes. And most people do not act fast within this golden period,' she explains.Due to this, the organization has embarked on a sustained campaign to ensure Nigerians know it is necessary to be knowledgeable on what to do when life-threatening situations play out.According to Nwauwa, doctors do not heal death; they are only there to attend to life patient. But the big question is who will be there to make the patients stay alive'She sees the newly introduced Women for Change Initiative programme as very laudable. 'I think Emergency Response can also be incorporated into that programme. If we are able to get majority of women trained on how to handle emergencies, we would have gone a long way because when you train a woman, it trickles down to her children.'Women are always there with the children. Yet, they are not well represented in the training. If you check the population of those who have being trained over the years, men are more in number,' she says.As a result, Nwauwa is now also in the vanguard of ensuring the number of women who gets trained in emergency care receives a boost. 'I recently had to see a commissioner on this issue of having women trained on emergency care because when things happen, women panic the most. This also explains why we now solicit support from women stakeholders and commissioners to join and help put together programmes that could help the Nigeria women in emergency situations.'Nwauwa has attended many national, international conferences and programmes. She has also ascended to the status of a Basic Life Support (BLS) Instructor for America Heart Association (AHA), ACLS and PALS provider, International Educator for Nigeria on the prestigious Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) training of the American College of Surgeons for Medical Doctors.As if she was never done, Nwauwa recently bagged a fellow award from the Nigeria Institute of Management (NIM). Speaking on the award, she says the institution must have looked through her records before counting her worthy of the honour.She has presented many papers during conferences held by the Rivers State chapter of NIM and has served as resource person in many of the chapter's programmes. A few of her lectures have been published in the NIM journals. She has also been awarded 'Services to Humanity' by the Rivers Economic Development Forum, and a Good Governance Award by the South-south Civil Society Coalition.In the course of her educational pursuit and search for knowledge, she had herfirst degree from University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), and her Masters degree in Industrial Sociology and Personnel Management in Abia State University. She later followed up with a PhD from the University of Port Harcourt.Emergency Response Services was co-founded in 1986 in Port Harcourt. Over the years, it grew steadily. And now, the company has so much acclaim that it represents many international bodies. 'My husband asked that we start by making first aid kits. We later started running a hospital in Imo state. Now, we have offices in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt,' she informs.After her first and second degree, she became an instructor of basic life support in 1995 after she underwent some training with the American Heart Association.One of the objectives of Emergency Response Services is to ensure that three out of every five Nigerians are informed on what to do when life-threatening emergency occurs. 'If we are able to achieve this, it means that wherever there is life threatening emergency where five people are; there will be three people to save the situation. We want Nigeria to have what is obtainable abroad,' she states.She however laments that in spite of the efforts already put in, they have not being able to reach out to everyone.
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