KOTA KINABALU: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) knowledge among Malaysians is still low as compared to other developed countries, said Sabah Heart Safe chairperson, Dr. Shazharn Zain.
“In Malaysia, the awareness of the importance of CPR education is still lacking compared to most developed nations where CPR literacy in the community can reach up to 20%.“
“A sudden cardiac arrest victim still has a high chance of being revived if carry out the resuscitation as soon as possible after the heart stops,” he said, increasing the survival rate for the collapsed victims could reach over 75%.
Dr. Shazharn added that when sudden cardiac arrest occurs, the heart stops beating and if there is no CPR carried out immediately, all organs in the body start to suffer damage within minutes.
He said it is crucial that CPR is performed during the first 4 minutes after cardiac arrest occurs can mean the difference between life and death.
“This is why we need to ensure a large number of CPR providers within the community.”
“A common misnomer is that sudden cardiac arrest only occurs in older heart attack victims, but it could happen to any age and from all sorts of other causes such as electrocution, drowning, choking and even poisoning,” Dr. Shazharn added.
On Saturday, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital II organized an inaugural mass community CPR and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) training program here to have more people in Sabah to learn the life-saving skills.
During the session, 749 participants were taught the correct method of performing CPR and operate an AED at Kota Kinabalu Sports Complex.
The program was officiated by Sabah Health and People’s Wellbeing Minister Datuk Frankie Poon.
Source: nst.com.my
