“PLEASE! Please! Help me! There are people fainting and unconscious! Who can do CPR?”

You may have encountered an incident where an individual suddenly falls unconscious and is unconscious either while carrying out leisure activities, exercising, sports, or carrying out other daily activities. When faced with such a situation, if we do not prepare ourselves with first aid knowledge and skills, we will surely panic and do not know what to do to save the individual's life.

According to the World Health Organization or WHO (World Health Organization), cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide which claims 17.9 million lives each year. Cardiovascular disease has also won the leading cause of death among the locals in our country.

When an individual suddenly faints and is unconscious, there are times when the heart stops beating suddenly and can render the victim unconscious continuously and not breathing.

If first aid is not carried out immediately, the victim will most likely not be able to be saved when the ambulance reaches the scene.

In Malaysia, one of the main contributors to cardiovascular cases is the cardiac arrest before reaching the nearest hospital. Every minute passes, death grows closer to the victim.

CPR is the first aid method to save the life of a victim who faints suddenly and does not breathe.

What is CPR? CPR stands for Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation or Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. CPR is performed when the victim is unconscious, there is no heartbeat, and breathing stops.

When CPR is performed, oxygen-carrying blood flow can be passed on to the part of the victim's brain because if the brain does not have enough oxygen, brain death will occur and will be directly fatal.

Among the CPR methods that we often hear about are mouth-to-mouth breathing assistance and chest compression method. The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the selection of CPR methods from mouth-to-mouth breathing to hand-only CPR (hands only CPR) methods.

Therefore, the CPR hand-only method is highly recommended by professional organizations to be studied by the public during this endemic era of COVID-19. The first four minutes are said to be critical periods that can save the life of a victim with a sudden cardiac arrest if first aid is performed.

Bintulu Hospital Academic Club and Universiti Putra Malaysia Bintulu Campus in collaboration with Bintulu Hospital will be organizing the MEGA CPR 2023 program at Bintulu Division level with the theme Bintulu Celik CPR on 11 March 2023 at the Sri Kenyalang Hall, UPM Bintulu Campus. Members of the public, especially youths, are encouraged to sign up for this program.

Participants can scan the QR code in the program poster to register or can contact the responsible officer as shown in the poster. Come on! Let's sign up! Celik CPR, save lives!

(This article was prepared by Dr Chan Siaw Leng from the Department of Social Sciences and Management of Universiti Putra Malaysia Bintulu Sarawak Campus. Email: chansiawleng@upm. edu.my)

Date of Input: 08/02/2023 | Updated: 09/02/2023 | lanz