As an extension of its Mumbai Heart Healthy city initiative, of which heart risk mitigation and heart health awareness is the key focus, Asian Heart Institute trained over 50 fire brigade employees in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on Tuesday at Mumbai Fire Brigade Head office at Byculla. The Asian Heart Institute is planning to train 5,000 Mumbaikars this year, including 1000 police personnel and 25,000 Mumbaikars over time during its initiative.
While talking about the importance of learning CPR, Dr Vijay D’Silva, Medical Director, Asian Heart Institute said, “In developed countries, 30 per cent of the population is trained in CPR to revive a person with heart attack when heart stops. CPR is an emergency procedure and can save countless lives. The first responders in emergency situations, fire-fighters play a vital role in the society and CPR training is crucial for them.”
Experts from the hospital gave an instructor-led course that teaches adult CPR and how to use an automated external defibrillator (AED) machine. The fire brigade employees then performed the same procedures on a mannequin.
“CPR, especially if performed in the first few minutes of cardiac arrest, can double or triple a person’s chance of survival. If CPR is not provided, people’s chances of survival fall by 7 to 10 per cent for every minute of delay,” shared Dr Nilesh Gautam, senior interventional cardiologist and the Head of Dept. of Preventive Cardiology and Rehabilitation at the Asian Heart Institute.
Dr D’Silva added, “After approximately 10 minutes of cardiac arrest, in the metabolic phase, the effectiveness of both immediate defibrillation and CPR followed by defibrillation decreases rapidly and survival rates are poor. Brain damage is likely if cardiac arrest lasts for more than 5 minutes, and death is likely if cardiac arrest lasts for more than 10 minutes.”
What is CPR?
CPR is an emergency procedure in which a person presses up and down on the casualty’s chest (chest compressions) and gives them a series of rescue breaths to help save their life when they are in cardiac arrest. It’s a life skill that keeps blood flowing to the brain until the heart can be restarted. Research suggests that the sooner that someone starts CPR after a person collapses; the more likely the victim is to survive.