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SINGAPORE : Every minute counts in an emergency, so some 250 people picked up cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skills to boost their emergency preparedness.
They also took home do-it-yourself (DIY) CPR kits, complete with a teaching DVD and a mannequin from the Community Resiliency Carnival 2008, so they can share this knowledge with their families.
Dr Amy Khor, Mayor, South West District, said: "Well, I think CPR is a very useful and in fact (a) very critical skill for every Singaporean to learn because you never know when accidents, drowning, or cardiac arrests can take place.
"And therefore, if you do have the skill, you could administer bystander CPR and help to save more lives. The earlier you administer this, the chances of survival is much better."
The Singapore Heart Foundation says it takes an average of seven minutes before help arrives and every minute decreases one's survival rate by 7 to 10 percent.
Chan Geok Sim, a participant, said: "My father died of a heart attack. And we do not know anything about all this, so had we come in to help in this, maybe we could be of help."
Receiving the kits worth about S$50 each were families in the Hong Kah district who had signed up to learn CPR.
Another participant, Jenny Wee, said: "I think it's very good for me to learn so that when I go home I can teach my family members what to do. And further more, it can save lives."
If this pilot takes off, the American instruction DVD will be recorded again in Singapore's four official languages, so more families will receive these kits come October. - CNA/ch
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