MANILA --Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Monday called on local chief executives to take the lead in the conduct of cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training in communities to increase the survival rate of persons experiencing a heart attack or cardiac arrest.
"Ang panawagan ko sa barangay chief executives ay magsagawa po tayo ng ganitong ehersisyo para bawat pamilya ay maalam kung paano gawin ang CPR (I am urging barangay chief executives to conduct similar CPR exercise so that every family can be aware how to do CPR)," Duque told a press briefing in Manila.
Duque's call is in line with the celebration of the National Disaster Resilience this month.
Duque said that if one of the family members in a barangay knows how to do CPR, they can contribute to the survival rate of a person that may suffer cardiac arrest.
"This will improve survival rate by 50 percent," Duque said.
He said that knowledge on CPR is an important step to save lives while waiting for the arrival of a more specialized medical assistance.
He said that such knowledge will help prevent brain impairment and aid in restoring the breathing of someone having a heart attack.
Duque added that a person will just need to practice by putting the right dominant hand over his left hand, inter-twine the digits of the fingers with straighten arms, press in the mid part of the body or chest, and then pump.
"So 100 to 120 cycle is to be effective by and in itself to revive a person that has undergone or is undergoing heart attack," he said.
Source: www.pna.gov.ph