DHAKA: The Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) international training center began its operation in Mohammadpur in the city aimed at providing hands-on training to Bangladeshi medical professionals.
US-based Distressed Children and Infants International (DCI) and Pediatric Education Development Society (PEDS) opened the center in collaboration with American Heart Association (AHA) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), said a press release.
A colorful inauguration ceremony was held on December 31, 2014 where Dr Matthew D Kaye, director of Volunteer Programs and Service Learning at Sacred Heart University, Connecticut, USA attended as the chief guest.
At the PALS center, DCI and PDES will offer hands-on training to the medical professionals of different local medical institutions in collaboration with American Heart Association and Advanced Pediatric Life Support (APLS) educational conferences sponsored by American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and Children's Hospital, New York, the release added.
The participating local institutions are Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka Shishu Hospital, Chittagong Medical College, BIRDEM, Apollo Hospital and Bangladesh Pediatric Association (BPA).
Other activities of the centre will also include the donation of emergency resuscitation equipment to institutions, focus on improvement of emergency services in Bangladesh by educating staff, providing policies and procedure guidelines, and setting up emergency equipment with the help of local administration.
Speakers at the functions said they believed that arranging regular events would foster improved collaborative work between the US and Bangladeshi medical professionals and improve medical care in future.
They also hoped to use DCI’s wide spread network to make PALS center a success and to disseminate current pediatric advanced life support knowledge and in the process advance DCI’s agenda of safe guarding the most valuable member of society - the children.
Professor A.K. Azad Khan, president of Diabetic Association of Bangladesh (DAB), Dr Muhammad Abdul Mazid, chief executive of DAB, Dr. Maksud Chowdhury, former president of Bangladesh Medical Association of North America (BMANA) and associate professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Coney Island Hospital, New York, Dr Waseem Hafeez, physician and associate professor of Clinical Pediatrics at PALS Course Director of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, Dr. Ishtiaque Hossain, Tasik Ahmed, DCI Media consultant, Dr Al-Amin Mridha, assistant professor of Department of Paediatrics at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College, Dhaka, Dr. Hossain Shahid Kamrul Alam, assistant director of Dhaka Shishu Hospital, Salma Qadir, DCI county coordinator and chief coordinator of Rights and Sight for Children (RSC), and Zulfikar Hyder, director of Ministry of Social Welfare, among others, were present at the inauguration function.
Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) is a classroom, video-based, Instructor-led course that uses a series of simulated pediatric emergencies to reinforce the important concepts of a systematic approach to pediatric assessment, basic life support, PALS treatment algorithms, effective resuscitation and team dynamics. The goal of the PALS Course is to improve the quality of care provided to seriously ill or injured children, resulting in improved outcomes.
BDST: 1502 HRS, JAN 03, 2015
