(ZCSLHS) organised a hands-on training workshop

Ziauddin College of Speech Language and Hearing Sciences (ZCSLHS) organised a hands-on training workshop for Speech Language Therapists in Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) which aim to enhance the realm of our services across Pakistan.

FEES is an instrumental assessment and Gold Standard of assessment for swallow disorders or Dysphagia, by which the Speech Language therapist can view the laryngeal vestibule directly to ascertain any impairment in the laryngeal phase of swallowing.

The patients are made to eat and drink different consistencies of food as the procedure is being performed.

The five-day workshop was led by a team of SA Swallowing Services, which delivered training and clinical services using the FEES procedures. The workshop began on September 30 and ended on October 4.

Principal, Ziauddin College of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Amina Siddiqui, emphasized on the need to expand the training to the public sector.

The 40 students attending the training workshop introduced the facility in their respective hospitals including Dow University, Indus Hospital, Aga Khan and Ziauddin Hospital, Ms. Siddiqui told National Courier.

Stressing over the number of people suffering from swallowing difficulty, she flagged the need to train more students as the training can be extended to the public sector once more people are trained.

“They are at the start of the change of medicine”, co-founder SASS Prof. Dr. Michelle L. Skelley said, adding that this procedure will make it more convenient for the patients to have their swallowing difficulty assessed, given the replacement of heavy machinery with a portable system.

The training apprises the students with a technically feasible assessment, in case the patient is too sick to move, FEES eliminates the process of taking the patient down to Radiology.

Many locals from rural areas are unaware that speech and swallowing difficulty is an alarming situation, co-founder SASS Prof. Dr. John R. Ashford said, urging that the difficulties must be assessed at the earliest so it fixes the quality of life of those who are suffering.

These are highly technical skills that are not commonly taught in universities, another trainer Dr. Matthew G. Ward said. It provides special care and tests for the patient. Individuals fall to Dysphagia in case of having a stroke, accident, and tumors; or those who have Parkinsonism, Alzheimer’s Disease, or Dementia.