Asian Heart Institute trains over 100 BEST employees including drives and conductors in CPR

Mumbai: Taking its commitment towards making Mumbai a heart healthy city a step ahead, Asian Heart Institute (AHI) trained over 100 Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) employees including conductors, drivers and other staff in Cardio-pulmonary-resuscitation (CPR) on Thursday at the Colaba Bus Depot, Electric House. AHI will also train 100 master trainers from all the BEST depots and they will be issued a certificate for CPR training. These master trainers will later on conduct various such CPR training sessions at their respective depots throughout the year.

While talking about the importance of learning CPR, Dr Vijay D’silva, Medical Director, Asian Heart Institute said, “CPR training is a life skill that can benefit in case someone traveling on board the bus happens to suffer a sudden cardiac arrest. The American Heart Association trains more than 12 million people in CPR annually, to equip Americans with the skills they need to perform bystander CPR. In India less than 1 % population is CPR trained. It is high time we take this life saving technique seriously.”

Dr D'silva further added that AHI staff is CPR trained.

"We are delighted to collaborate with Asian Heart Institute as a part of BEST's Swastha Hriday Abhiyan campaign launched on World Heart Day last year. Our drivers and conductors travel with lakhs of people every day and they must be prepared to handle on- road cardiac emergencies. Similar workshops will be conducted at all the depots," said Dr Anilkumar Singal, Chief Medical Officer, BEST.

Experts from the hospital gave an instructor-led course that teaches adult CPR and how to use an automated external defibrillator (AED) machine. The drivers and conductors then performed the same procedures on a mannequin.

“CPR, especially if performed in the first few minutes of cardiac arrest, can double or triple a person’s chance of survival. If CPR is not provided, persons chances of survival fall by 7-10% for every minute of delay,” shared Dr Nilesh Gautam, senior interventional cardiologist and the Head of Dept of Preventive Cardiology and Rehabilitation at the Asian Heart Institute

As a part of its Mumbai Heart Healthy city initiative, AHI will be training 5000 Mumbaikars, including 1000 police personnel, and 25000 Mumbaikars over time.

What is CPR?
CPR is an emergency procedure in which a person presses up and down on the casualty’s chest (chest compressions) and gives them a series of rescue breaths to help save their life when they are in cardiac arrest. It's a life skill that keeps blood flowing to the brain until the heart can be restarted. Research suggests that the sooner that someone starts CPR after a person collapses, the more likely the victim is to survive.