The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Medical Services (MS) Branch has conducted a One-day COVID-19 Sample Collection Training for its Medical Laboratory Scientists and Technicians.
Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, NAF’s Director of Public Relations and Information, made this known in a statement in Abuja on Thursday.
Daramola said the training, which was done in collaboration with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and World Health Organisation (WHO) Nigeria, was held on Thursday at the 063 NAF Hospital (063 NAFH) Abuja.
He said 34 medical laboratory personnel, comprising 16 scientists and 18 technicians, attended the training as part of capacity building initiatives to help curb the spread of COVID-19 by improving early detection through the scaling up of testing.
He said the Chief of Medical Services (CMS), Air Commodore Gideon Bako, at the workshop recalled NAF, with support from the NCDC and WHO, earlier training a significant number of NAF personnel on patient movement as well as infection prevention and control, which was also geared towards limiting the spread of COVID-19 in the force.
Bako, who was represented by Group Capt. David Babalola, the Director, Professions Allied to Medicine (DPAM), Headquarters NAF, disclosed that those earlier trained had subsequently organised step-down trainings for other laboratory staff.
“I am happy to note that the benefit of the training is already being reaped as all COVID-19 samples of NAF personnel as well as some sister Services are being collected by our trained medical laboratory personnel”, he said.
He appreciated Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, for approving the conduct of the training, adding that the development of professional capacity of NAF medical personnel had continued to receive particular attention from the CAS.
Bako also expressed gratitude to the NCDC and WHO for always partnering with the Service in its quest to ensure qualitative medical service delivery in the NAF.
He urged the participants to take maximum advantage of the training as the knowledge gained would help to curtail the spread of COVID-19.
Earlier, the Commander 063 NAFH, Group Capt. Muzamil Muhammed, had said that the current NAF leadership had been in the forefront of the fight against COVID-19 through various support services to national health authorities and provision of its medical facilities for use as COVID-19 Isolation and Treatment Centres.
He noted, for instance, that 063 NAFH Abuja, which serves as one of the Armed Forces of Nigeria’s Isolation/Treatment and Sample Collection Centres, has processed over 250 COVID-19 samples in the past 4 months.
Muhammed said that the current training was organised because of the need to expand the sample collection capability to many other laboratory personnel, “especially those serving in NAF units outside Abuja.”
Providing an overview of the proceedings, Daramola said some of the areas covered during the one day training were Laboratory Bio-safety; Principles of PPE: Donning and Doffing as well as COVID-19 Sample Collection, Packaging and Transportation.
It also featured elaborate practical demonstrations, with Mrs Ekanem Udoh and Ms Ngozi Pamella from the WHO as facilitators .
