Gearing Up For Possible Third Wave, Delhi Govt To Train 5000 Youths As 'Health Assistants'

The Delhi CM said that the training will be for 2 weeks and will be carried out by Indraprastha University. 

New Delhi: With a scare of a possible third wave of the novel coronavirus looming in a distance, the Delhi government has announced that it will train 5000 youths as health assistants noting the shortage of medical & paramedical staff. 

During a press conference, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal informed of its ambitious plan and talked about how it is preparing for an expected third wave. 

“Keeping that in mind, the government has made a grand ambitious plan to prepare 5,000 health assistants. In technical terms, they are called ‘Community Nursing Assistants’,” he announced.

The Delhi CM said that the training will be for 2 weeks and will be carried out by Indraprastha University. 

“This training will be provided in nine major medical institutes in Delhi. These people will work as assistants to doctors and nurses; they won’t be able to make (medical) decisions themselves. They will be provided training in basic nursing, paramedics, life-saving, first aid and home care,” said Kejriwal.

“They will be trained on basic things like how to measure oxygen and blood pressure, how to vaccinate, use of diapers, catheter and bed. They will also be told how oxygen cylinders and concentrators work, how to administer oxygen, etc,” he added.

While noting that this is a step to increase manpower and preparation for the third wave, Kejriwal further said, "Online applications can be filled from June 17 and training will start from June 28. Training will be held in a batch of 500 people. Eligible candidates should have cleared class 12 and should be 18 and above in age."

“This will strengthen our efforts to combat the third wave, and give us additional manpower if it hits. I pray that it doesn’t happen but news from England, UK is that the third wave has hit there. So we have to keep these developments in mind, and make sure there is nothing lacking in our efforts,” he said.

The health assistants will be roped in whenever their services are required during the third wave of the pandemic. They will be paid according to the number of days they work, he said according to PTI.