By Jimoh Babatunde

The Chief Executive Officer/Founder of Anesthesia and Critical Care Consultants (A3C), Dr Seyi Oyesola, has called for urgent formal training for personnel in critical care. He said this will enhance skills and medical procedures in the country.

Oyesola, who is a consultant in anaesthesia and critical care, noted that the whole of West African countries could not boast of any formal training programme for doctors who want to specialise in anaesthesia and critical care.

“Anesthesia and critical care as a whole are one of the underserved specialties in the world.

“If you want to become a gynaecologist or neurosurgeon you can either go to the West African Postgraduate College or The National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria.

“In the whole of West Africa, there is no single part that has a formal training programme in critical care and anaesthesia and so, it compounds the process,” he said.

The consultant added that areas designated as Intensive Care Units in some hospitals around the country were not of an internationally acceptable standard.

“Critical care is actually hard work and it is not for the faint-hearted because it involves constant monitoring. “There are lots of places that are labelled as intensive care units in hospitals which are not and can never pass for an intensive care unit.

“If you get to a standard intensive care unit, the first thing that will strike you is the amount of equipment in place,” he said.

Speaking also, A3C’s Commercial Director, Mr Akintunde Sawyerr, stressed the need for Nigerians to be enlightened on the role of anaesthesia and critical care in medical procedures.