The University of Health Sciences (UHS) started a training programme on Saturday in basic life support for the staff of gymnasiums, health clubs and fitness centres of Punjab. The basic objective of the course is to train the fitness coaches and strengthen instructions in responding to emergency situations that occur at their facilities. As a result of this training programme, they will also provide proper emergency responses to groups or individuals who are performing physical exercise. In the first phase, 19 trainers and instructors of gyms, health clubs and fitness centres of Lahore including Shapes, Lahore Gymkhana and Punjab Club attended the course which was arranged by UHS Institute of Learning Emergency Medicine. UHS Vice Chancellor Professor Javed Akram while addressing the certificate distribution ceremony, said that fitness instructors must be able to respond during emergencies. “Injuries and emergencies are likely to happen in fitness centres and health clubs, so it is vital that trainers are able to respond accordingly,” he said. UHS VC Professor Javed Akram added that trainers would benefit from small comfortable class sizes led by highly trained and experienced instructors. They would learn the hands-on-skills needed to respond to cardiac and respiratory emergencies. “The reason we need to all learn basic life support principles is to be able to use them in case of a serious and life-threatening event happening when we are around, before the victim could reach hospital. With a serious injury, we stand at least a five-golden minute rule of general assessment before waiting for proper management from hospitals,” UHS VC said. Shapes Chief Executive Officer Khawaja Nadeem Ahmad and Punjab Club Secretary Agha Khalid Mahmood also attended the ceremony. Published in Daily Times, November 18th 2018.