Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippine Heart Association wants the Philippines to be CPR-(cardiopulmonary resuscitation) ready.
At the Usapang Puso sa Puso’s Zoom conference, Dr. Don Robespierre recommended that at least 70 percent of every barangay in the Philippines must know how to do a CPR, and that each barangay must have an automated external defibrillator (AED) to be able to save a patient’s life.
“CPR is a very important action,” he said.
He said a mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is now a big challenge amid the pandemic.
The heart doctors even advised those who conduct the CPR to wear a pair of gloves if possible.
“All places must have AEDs, even in churches,” past PHA chairman Richard Henry Tiongco II said.
“Airports of our neighboring countries have too many AEDs, too. Sad to say, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport has a few. At our airport, as if you are on an Easter egg hunting (for an AED),” Robespierre said.
He said there is a need to train and educate even children on CPR, citing “every Filipino 10 years and above should know how to conduct CPR to save lives.”
He, however, said the PHA needs the help of the government and the other groups in the private sector to enable the Philippines CP-ready.
The heart doctors raised alarm over a high incidence of sudden cardiac arrest among the Filipino people.
“With the CPR, we increase the chance of survival of a patient by 30 percent,” Robespierre said.
AED even triples the chance of survival, he added.
“It is now a big challenge as to how to train the people on CPR because of the pandemic. That is why we came up with a blended type of training, online training, lectures, and a face-to-face training and written exam based on the guidelines of the Inter-Agency Task Force (on Emerging Infectious Diseases),” he said.
Dr. Ronald Law of the Department of Health’s Health Emergency/Management Bureau said they welcome a partnership with the private heart doctors.