17-07-2025
PH Red Cross CPR caravan targets 1M Filipinos on first response
The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) will hold a caravan to train one million Filipinos on Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and first response.
During the Department of Health's (DOH) CPR Day event at Mandaluyong City on Thursday, PRC secretary general Dr. Gwendolyn Pang said the caravan will visit various areas in the country starting July 17 up to October 16, or World CPR Day.
"We have 100 chapters all over the country. In the morning, we will train students in schools, then in the afternoon, we will train workers. During weekends, we will go to the malls and other populated places where we can share our knowledge on CPR, " Pang said.
'CPR should be as basic as reading and writing,' she added.
SAGIP
Meanwhile, the DOH held CPR demonstrations for representatives of local government units, aiming to spread the skills in localities nationwide.
'The power to save lives does not rest solely in the hands of health professionals. This is the responsibility of all," DOH Assistant Secretary Dr. Gloria Balboa said.
The Health official recommended the following steps under the DOH's CPR framework SAGIP:
·S – Survey the scene and check the situation
·A – Assess the victim
·G – Get help and call 911
·I – Initiate compression
·P – Place the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) pads, if available
The DOH said at least one family member should have CPR skills for sudden moments of cardiac arrest.
'It can happen anywhere, anytime, even within the when it happens, every second counts," Balboa said.
CPR law
The Philippine Heart Association (PHA) called on local government units and the national government to enforce Republic Act 10871 or the Basic Life Support Training in Schools Act. The law mandates that public and private schools incorporate basic life support training for high school students.
PHA Council on CPR chairperson Dr. Don Robespierrre Reyes pointed out that only one out of 10 cardiac arrest cases survive globally due to several factors, including a lack of emergency response and an absent emergency medical system.
'Dito sa Pilipinas, walang marunong mag-CPR. Yung response rate natin ng mga bystanders, mababa… Ang gusto natin, pataasin kahit papaano. Kapag tumaas yung response rate ng nasa tabi-tabi lang, mga bystanders, nataas din yung chance na makabuhay tayo ng isang cardiac arrest patient,' said Reyes.
(Here in the Philippines, no one knows how to do CPR. The response rate of bystanders is low… What we want is to raise it somehow. If the response rate of the bystanders gets high, there is also a big chance that we can help a cardiac arrest patient survive.)
Reyes said that nine years after the law was passed, basic life support is still not part of the Philippine curriculum.
'They (teachers) need to be educated on a new topic. Hindi naman ito kasama sa course nila noon. So, you have to train the teachers to teach this one, and probably, dun siguro nagkakaroon ng konting problema,' Reyes noted.
(They need to be educated on a new topic. This wasn't included in their previous courses. So, you have to train the teachers to teach this one, and probably that may also be where they encounter a bit of a problem.)—LDF, GMA Integrated News
