July 2014

Basic training in First Medical Response (MFR) for FairTrade Fishermen and Fishing Industry in Ambon, Maluku

  As part of the Fair Trade pilot program being implemented in Anova supply chains in Eastern Indonesia, MDPI, Fishing & Living’s partner on the ground, held a Fair Trade sponsored,  first response medical training for a selected number of fishers, processing plant staff and villagers. The idea behind the training was to ensure that an adequate number of trained persons are available in each village or landing area to accommodate any emergencies which may occur related to fishermen or fishing activities.

20 people participated in the training: 8 people from Assilulu, Ambon based fisher associations, 4 from Buru island based fisher associations, 4 MDPI Staff and 4 from our partner processing facilities in the region.

The head of the national search and rescue agency (Basarnas) for the Maluku region opened the training and explained that the training would be conducted using 2 methods, theory and practice.  Additionally, Lalu Hizbulloh, MDPI, motivated the participants to describe real life situations. Field conditions for fishermen are very prone to accidents and rural fishing villages have limited access to to health centres and hospitalss.

The trained individuals are now confident to help anyone subject to minor accidents, at least to such a level that the transfer to the nearest hospital is possible. The participants were specifically chosen to ensure that trained individuals are spread out between all the villages participating in the Fair Trade project. In addition to the training, medical posts were created in each location where there is a trained first responder. Each village was given an extensive medical kit with materials and medical products to support the trainee in conducting his/her duties as local first aid appointee.

MDPI would like to thank Fair Trade and Anova LLC for their kind contribution in making this training possible.