Statement
Statement By The Honourable Vincent O. Wheatley
Minister For Health And Social Development
At The Twentieth Sitting Of The First Session Of The Fifth
House Of Assembly Of The Virgin Islands
Friday 18th October 2024
Back To Life Training
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to inform this Honourable House that the British Virgin Islands Health Services Authority (BVIHSA) has entered into a partnership with Back to Life Limited, a UK-based life support training company, to enhance the emergency response capabilities of healthcare professionals across the Territory. This training replaces the previously implemented US-based American Heart Association training.
The Resuscitation Council training provides significant advantages over the American Heart Association’s training as previously configured in the BVI context, which has become increasingly expensive and complex to administer outside of the mainland USA. This new programme is more cost effective, provides additional levels of training which can improve the benefits to a wider range of staff, allows the BVIHSA to have access to updates, and the ability to become a Resuscitation Council accredited training centre for the region.
Back to Life Limited, is a UK company with more than 32 years of experience in delivering high-quality life support training including the Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) training. I was pleased that the company visited the Territory in September and held a week-long training programme with a wide cross section of BVIHSA staff. The cohort of nine highly experienced instructors delivered Immediate and Advanced Life Support training to our healthcare professionals. The training covered both Adult and Paediatric resuscitation and care, ensuring that our teams are better equipped to respond to life-threatening situations swiftly and confidently.
Madam Speaker, I would like to emphasize the importance of this partnership. Back to Life Limited is known for its extensive work in providing simulated life support training across the UK, including training in acute hospitals, mental health institutions, and community healthcare settings. They bring with them the gold standard of life support training accredited by the Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK). Our collaboration with them is a critical part of BVIHSA ensuring standardisation of care and improvement in its emergency care capabilities. This collaboration will result in healthcare professionals in the Territory having access to world-class training right here at home, which will lead to better preparedness and improved patient outcomes in medical emergencies.
Already, the training has had a positive impact. From doctors and nurses to paramedics and administrative staff, a wide range of healthcare professionals participated in the series of intensive sessions. Feedback from participants has been overwhelmingly positive, with many praising the high-quality, hands-on training delivered by the Back to Life’s expert instructors.
Six local healthcare providers have been identified and have begun their training. In total 108 persons were trained. The BVIHSA has also invested in simulation equipment and will continue to ensure ongoing competence through regular simulation training under RCUK guidance. This will improve standard of emergency care, confidence and in particular the level of service available in emergencies on remote locations including the Sister Islands.
This collaboration with Back to Life UK is also the fulfilment of the BVIHSA’s strategic objective to become the first accredited centre for RCUK training courses in the Caribbean by 2029. Becoming a RCUK Training Centre will position the BVI Health Services Authority as a centre of excellence in emergency care; enabling us to independently offer RCUK-accredited life support courses for all healthcare workers in the Territory and across the region.
Madam Speaker, as we look towards the future, this partnership represents more than just a short-term boost in skills. It is part of a long-term vision to create a sustainable, high-quality training programme that will benefit the healthcare system of the Territory for generations to come. This initiative will help to build a more responsive healthcare system, better prepared to provide the highest standard of resuscitative and emergency care to our residents and visitors alike.
Thank you, Madam Speaker.
