Varanasi, October 16: Nearly 70% of cardiac arrest cases in India occur outside hospital, where timely medical assistance is often not possible. In such a situation, if someone nearby administers CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) in time, it can prove to be life-saving. For this purpose, the Ministry of Health is organizing CPR Awareness Week across the country from October 13 to 17.
In this sequence, a program was organized as part of the awareness campaign at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) on Thursday, in which participants took an oath to spread awareness about CPR and teach it to others.
The program was organized under the direction of Dr Kiran Giri, Professor, Department of Pharmacology, IMS-BHU, and under the guidance of Dr Ved Prakash, Deputy Coordinator, PVPI, and Professor, Department of Pharmacology. This initiative is being conducted under the supervision of the Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring Center.
Experts demonstrated through live demos how hands-only CPR can be performed by any layperson. Participants were taught how to perform approximately 100 chest compressions per minute in an emergency, and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation if necessary, to ensure oxygen supply to the brain and other organs until professional medical assistance arrives.
Awadhesh Kumar Yadav demonstrated all the steps of CPR on a practical manikin.
Dr Manoj Tiwari, Senior Consultant, ART Center, SS Hospital, IMS-BHU, explained the role of stress management in CPR.
He emphasized that in emergency situations, if stress is not controlled, a person may fail to perform CPR. He also shared practical stress management tips. The program aims to train more people in CPR and make them potential lifesavers, thereby reducing the mortality rate from out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in India.