Some senior secondary school students in Lagos, have been trained and equipped with life-saving emergency response skills, including CPR, first aid, trauma and other pre-hospital techniques, powered by KPMG in partnership with Health Emergency Initiative (HEI)
The collaboration underscores of the commitment of the organisations to youth empowerment and inclusive learning through socially the impactful initiatives. The training programme, which launched with over 50 students from Queen’s College and other participating schools, is designed as a Train-the-Trainer (ToT) model. Each trained student is expected to cascade the knowledge to 50 peers within 90 days, supported by HEI’s implementation framework.
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Through this partnership, KPMG and HEI aim to tackle the urgent need for emergency preparedness among young Nigerians, addressing the alarming rate of preventable deaths from cardiovascular diseases, road traffic accidents, and other emergencies.
Paschal Achunine, executive director of HEI, speaking at the launch of the training programme, expressed gratitude to KPMG for championing this crucial cause:
“This collaboration is a testament to KPMG’s dedication to making a lasting impact in our society. By training students as first responders, we are fostering a culture of life-saving interventions that will reduce fatalities from pre-hospital emergencies.
This initiative has the potential to create behavioural and systemic change by shifting the prevailing culture of inaction during emergencies. Rather than bystanders recording incidents on their phones, we can instill a culture where individuals step in to provide lifesaving assistance.
This noble objective informed the Ministry of Education’s approval for HEI to train all senior secondary school students in Lagos State, as well as the inclusion of the training in the secondary school curriculum.
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It is also important to acknowledge and appreciate the trust that KPMG has placed in HEI’s track record of transparency, integrity, and effective project execution. We encourage other organisations and individuals to join us in this life-saving movement.”
The programme has also led to the establishment of First Responders Clubs in participating schools. These clubs will serve as platforms for sustainability and continued engagement through activities like essay competitions, quizzes, and debates—all focused on reinforcing a life-saving culture among youth.
This initiative complements HEI’s broader work, which has already trained over 126,000 first responders nationwide. With the recent approval by the Lagos State Government for a five-year integration of emergency response training into the secondary school curriculum, this partnership exemplifies the alignment of NGO-driven innovation with public sector priorities.
