Incident at Shoprite questions whether Malawi service providers have staff trained in first aid

* After a customer collapses whilst on the till line

* Cardiopulmonary resuscitation training for service providers staff can save lives in such situations

* What the staff know is going straight to their work places — no daily risk assessments

* They assume the way they left the place is still the same

By Duncan Mlanjira

An incident that took place at Chichiri Shopping Mall’s Shoprite in Blantyre has ignited a debate on whether Malawi’s service providers, such as the supermarkets that attracts large patronage, do have in place personnel specially trained on first aid.

The debate was ignited by social commentator, Kondwanie Chirembo on Facebook, who posted on Friday that around lunch hour he was in Shoprite at Chichiri Shopping Mall and as he stood in line to pay for his purchases, a lady collapsed on the line.

“The gentleman that was with the lady and another lady assisted the collapsing girl to sit comfortably on the floor,” he said. “The shocking thing for me was that Shoprite staff appeared not to have an idea of what to do.

“It took us customers asking why no one was willing to assist for them to call a supervisor over. Even when the supervisor came she looked lost!

“I could be wrong but work place regulations require such places to have first aid-trained personnel at all times. And all staff should know who to call in case of an emergency.”

To which Nakamba Canga responded to say: “Yes, they should be or know how to call for an ambulance — or bare minimum scream and run for help”, to which Chirembo said they shouted at one employee but only responded in desperation that he wanted to see who the victim was with and when the customers showed their incredulity to such response, the man bolted.

“It was pathetic,” Chirembo said, adding that the lady was helped by sympathizers as they supported her to walk. Chirembo observed that Shoprite was expected to have, at least a wheelchair or two somewhere in the shop for such eventualities.

Several other commentators observed that cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training for service providers staff can save lives in such situations, asking if the responsible Ministry checks whether public health regulations and public safety are followed by the supermarkets.

CPR is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person who is in cardiac arrest.

Pelewelo Dambe Banda said “most businesses and companies in Malawi overlook the importance of safety and health personnel or trainings and that most of them do not have first aid boxes.

“What [the staff] know is going straight to their work places — no daily risk assessments and they assume the way they left the place is still the same.”

Alex Nkosi emphasized that “work place occupational health and safety is a fundamental right”, with Florence Pruccedence Chaloledwa sneering: “Alex Nkosi, my brother, even if I offered to train them Work Place Safety & Health, they will never accept because their outlet is to sell commodities without taking into consideration of consumers’ safety and health.”

Nyasulu Jimmy observed that the country seems not to have paramedics “to respond to emergencies and the government doesn’t have any plan at all. To be a Malawian citizen is somehow like a curse — that’s how millions of citizens feel. It’s so sad.”

But Chirembo reminded Nyasulu that the country does have paramedics such St John Ambulance, who offer such service but maintained that “basic first aid is something such a busy place [like Shoprite] should be training staff in”.

Mahesh T. Kotecha summed it all up by saying that while it was “very sad that no one competent enough at Shoprite stepped in, it is Malawians themselves to blame — thus “Shoprite thinks anything goes”.