Cardiff University trains police

Cardiff University trains police Cardiff University is leading essential life-saving training for police officers in Namibia to help tackle extremely high death rates on the country's roads.

Professor Judith Hall has worked with partners at another university in Cardiff, Cardiff Metropolitan University, to design a low cost 'trauma pack' as part of Cardiff University's transformative Phoenix Project. Police officers will be trained to use the trauma packs, which have been designed for deployment following traffic collisions. Doctors from the Welsh National Health Service will carry out the training from 29 May to 9 June 2017, with each police officer receiving a day's training ahead of a six-month trial in Windhoek.

The Phoenix Project, a partnership with the University of Namibia to improve health and reduce poverty in Namibia, has just been extended until at least 2022. “The trauma packs will save lives because too many people are dying following crashes on Namibia's roads,” said Professor Hall, who leads the Phoenix Project. The six-month pilot project - working with Windhoek City Police, Nampol, emergency services personnel and the Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund - will see Wales-based doctors led by Dr Brian Jenkins from Cardiff University training police officers in Windhoek. The doctors, mainly from Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, will teach 150-200 police officers life-saving procedures using the trauma packs, which contain equipment such as neck collars, bandages and a stretcher.

The officers, who are due to be equipped with the packs from September 2017, will use them in the first 'golden hour' following traffic collisions when lives are most likely to be saved. Police officers were chosen to take part because they are often first at a crash scene. “This is a great initiative. Taking into account the country's high accident rate, and being first responding officers to accident scenes, I am confident that this training would play a significant role in ensuring that many lives are saved,” said City Police spokesperson Cillie Auala.

Professor Kenneth Matengu, Unam Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research, Innovation and Development), said the university is delighted to work alongside Cardiff University and police forces in this important drive for road safety.



STAFF REPORTER