Volunteers Provide Resuscitation Training in Morocco

Advanced resuscitation courses previously not available in Morocco were provided to 48 medical professionals recently by the American Heart Association (AHA; Dallas, TX, USA) and Operation Smile (Norfolk, VA, USA), an international charity that provides free reconstructive surgery to children with facial deformities in developing countries.

Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) are advanced resuscitation courses developed by the American Heart Association. Instructors use PALS to train healthcare providers to recognize and treat childhood emergencies, including cardiac and respiratory arrest. The ASLS course is used to teach healthcare providers to recognize, evaluate, and treat the early stages of heart attack, abnormal heart rhythms, acute stroke, respiratory arrest, and adult cardiac arrest. The AHA and Operation Smile are working to establish long-term, self-sustaining life-support training programs for Moroccan healthcare providers.

The AHA has established advanced life support training programs in 27 countries since publishing its International Guidelines 2000 for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care. Operation Smile provides free medical treatment and aftercare, trains local doctors, and supplies necessary equipment.

"Moroccan leaders genuinely supported our efforts, and the trainees mastered the course content,” said Jozef Borremans, director of international business for the AHA.




Related Links:
American Heart Association
Operation Smile