DOH asks barangay officials to hold CPR training

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday asked barangay officials to organize training on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in the community to improve the survival rate of people who suffer cardiac arrest.  

“We hope that everyone will know how to do CPR. But for now, our target is that at least one for every family to be able to do it because this will improve the survival rate of a person having cardiac arrest by 50 percent,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III told reporters.

Duque led DOH officials in administering hands-only CPR on a person as part of the celebration of July as National Disaster Resilience Month.

Hands-only CPR is performed without mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. It involves doing 100 to 120 chest compressions per minute with minimal interruption until breathing is restored.

According to Duque, CPR or the assisted pumping of the heart could be performed on a person having cardiac arrest while waiting “for a more specialized medical assistance to be made available.”

He noted that the Philippines is not one of the top countries with good awareness and ability to do CPR.

“I call on everyone to participate in disaster preparedness initiatives so that you will know what to do in case of emergencies. Learn hands-only CPR. It may mean life or death for you and your loved ones,” Duque said.