Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR in short is an emergency procedure for a patient whose heart has stopped or is no longer breathing.
This lifesaving procedure can maintain circulation and breathing until emergency medical help arrives.
In his speech at the opening of the Mass CPR 2019 session at a leading mall here last Saturday, St John Ambulance Sarawak Chairman and Commander Datuk Seri Ang Lai Soon reiterated the importance of CPR and expressed hope to see the CPR training proposal implemented and included in the education system.
“It’s my hope that we will get the fullest support from both the federal and state governments,” he said.
We produce his text of speech below:
“We are told that our hearts beat well over a hundred thousand times a day.
When any heart stops beating, there is that very brief and critical window of opportunity of only a few minutes for something to be done to the heart to get it functioning, failing which, there will be no chance to save this person’s life.
This is one reason why it is very important for all people to learn how to make a heart start beating again after it has stopped doing so. And that method is called cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR.
It is, therefore, extremely important that as many people as possible regardless of age, gender, profession and station in life should learn CPR because one never knows when and where his or her skill would be needed to save a person’s life.
Cardiac arrest or heart attack is now one of the most common causes of death. Technically speaking, when a person gets a heart attack, there is a disturbance in the heart’s electrical rhythm.
This disturbance is called ventricular fibrillation, a condition in which the heart is not able to pump blood out of the chambers of the heart.
When this happens, an electrical shock applied to the chest can usually restore the pumping action of the heart and this can be done with an automated external defibrillator (AED).
However, such a piece of equipment is not always readily available on the spot. Thus, the next best alternative, indeed, the only option is to administer CPR to the victim first, before an ambulance arrives or proper medical help is available.
Most of you are no doubt aware that I have proposed that the teaching of CPR be made compulsory in all schools and institutions of higher learning in this country. These places of learning can, in fact, incorporate the CPR training into their extracurricular activities.
Teachers, therefore do not need to work extra hours.
Normally young students are energetic. They would be very eager to learn things which are practical and non-academic.
Thus, they would be able to master the skill of CPR very fast. The young people can then always share the skill that they have learned with their family members or others.
Rural people, particularly those in kampongs, long houses, and on the farms where medical help is limited or not easily available would certainly find CPR skill very useful in times of emergencies when a heart stops beating.
My proposal to get CPR to be taught in schools and institutions of higher learning has been very well supported both at home and abroad.
I am very pleased about it. It is my hope that people everywhere will be as good in CPR as they are in WhatsApp and Facebook.
To put into practice what you have learned today, I suggest you offer your voluntary service to any of the government hospitals and clinics in any city or town, especially in the Accident and Emergency Department. This can be arranged through St. John Ambulance Sarawak.
We would also help to train staff of schools, colleges and universities, of voluntary and charitable organisations, staff of government departments, agencies, ports, airports, bus stations, hotels, factories, shopping malls, cinemas, restaurants, coffee shops and so on and so forth.
I appeal to both the public and private sectors to consider this proposal to train all in this lifesaving skill. It is a win-win situation as all will stand to gain in this exercise. Precious lives and money are saved.
To me personally. I would prefer to employ staff, either an assistant or personal assistant, an accountant or clerk who already knows CPR. But, no problem, as CPR can be mastered in a couple of hours. Of course, it would be ideal if we are trained in First Aid as well. CPR is one of the most important things taught in the course.
I hope that many of you will help to organise groups in your area to train others in this lifesaving skill. Obviously, you will feel more confident if you attend more sessions, and practise it when opportunity arises.
I always believe in the sanctity of life. Every life is important, the king’s or a pauper’s. I strongly believe also that lives need not have to be lost unnecessarily.
This can only be achieved if there are people around who have some basic skill in CPR to quickly come to the rescue of persons in distress whose hearts stop beating for one reason or another. Thus, I think the implementation of this proposal would be a milestone in the history of healthcare.
As head of St John Ambulance Sarawak, I have always directed my focus on the importance of CPR. And with the new federal government, my hope now is that we will get the fullest support from both the federal and state governments to the CPR training proposal and I also hope to see it implemented and included in the country’s education system as soon as possible.
I can assure that St John Ambulance will give its fullest backing towards this campaign.
It is a good idea for every household to have at least one family member who knows how to apply CPR because many cases of heart attack do occur at home.
One cannot dispute the fact that, being able to perform CPR on a person who has a heart attack as a First Aid action before getting the victim to the hospital would make the difference between life and death.
Recent discovery has shown that just doing chest compression without mouth-to-mouth breathing is just as effective as CPR in reviving a person with heart attack. Some people may hesitant to do mouth-to-mouth breathing. Most people will be ready to do chest compression if they have been taught.
I would also like to mention that it should also be a logical measure to take by making automated external defibrillators (AEDs) accessible in certain public places which are always frequented by many people especially in view of the prevalence of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) incidents in public places.
I would suggest that places like malls, places of worship, sports arenas, office buildings, community halls, airports, bus stations, etc be equipped with AEDs. So I would like to suggest to the authorities to look into making use of this life-saving technology.
If we have a large number of people having been trained in CPR or just chest compression and in the use of AED, it would be highly likely that someone around can step forward to respond to a heart attack emergency that arises at these busy public places and lives will be saved.
One good news! Recent observations discover that just doing external cardiac compression without doing mouth-to-mouth breathing, is just effective in resuscitating a person with heart attack.
Some people may be hesitant to do mouth-to-mouth breathing. With this new approach, more people will be encouraged to do emergency resuscitation for heart attack.”
