Govt holds week-long drive to spread awareness about CPR's importance in cardiac arrest

New Delhi, Oct 22 (PTI) Over 14,700 people joined the inaugural Compression-only Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) live demonstration as part of the Health Ministry's initiative to sensitise citizens about the importance of early bystander intervention during cardiac arrest and other medical emergencies.

During the pan-India CPR Awareness Week from October 13-17, as many as 79,870 people pledged their commitment on the MyGov portal to spreading CPR awareness.

In a statement, the ministry said that despite CPR's proven life-saving potential, India's bystander CPR rates remain lower than global standards.

Through this week-long initiative, the ministry sought to bridge this gap by promoting widespread CPR training, awareness, and behavioural readiness across diverse population groups.

The objectives of the CPR Awareness Week were to enhance public awareness on the importance of CPR as a critical life-saving measure, provide practical training and demonstrations through diverse stakeholders, encourage youth participation in volunteerism and community preparedness, and utilise digital platforms to achieve wide-ranging public outreach and engagement.

State and Union Territories' health and medical education departments played a crucial role in organising field-level training and awareness activities, a statement said.

A series of activities was organised throughout the week to ensure widespread participation and awareness generation. A total of 14,701 participants joined the inaugural live pledge and CPR demonstration event through the ECHO platform and YouTube Live, it said.

Citizens were also encouraged to take a digital pledge through the MyGov platform, with 79,870 individuals pledging their commitment to CPR awareness, it stated.

A panel discussion on "CPR Techniques and the Role of Bystanders" saw the participation of six experts representing AIIMS-Delhi, RML Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital, and SGT Medical College.

Extensive physical training sessions on compression-only CPR were organised across India by state and Union Territory health departments, Central government Hospitals, AIIMS, the Indian Red Cross Society, and professional bodies, training a total of 6,06,374 participants, the statement said.

To engage citizens digitally, a CPR Quiz was hosted on the MyGov and MyBharat platforms, in which 36,040 participants took part. Additionally, through the Volunteer for Bharat initiative, 368 youths actively volunteered to promote CPR awareness during the week.

A range of social media and digital activities was undertaken in association with the Media Cell of the Ministry. PTI PLB NSD NSD