Resorts World Manila: First recipient of PHA CPR-Ready Establishment in the country
PASAY CITY, Dec. 15, 2016 -- Resorts World Manila (RWM), a vast hospitality/entertainment estate, was acclaimed as the very first recipient of the Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation-Ready Resort-Hotel Award by the Philippine Heart Association (PHA) during an awarding ceremony at Passion Restaurant, one of the former’s F&B outlets.
PHA officers led by President Dr. Raul Lapitan presented the plaque of recognition and certificate of recognition to RWM Chief Operations Officer Steve Reilly and Dr. John Dale Hizon, RWM assistant director for Health and Emergency Medical Services. Both Reilly and Hizon are champions of a CPR-Ready workplace and community.
Also on hand were PHA CPR gurus Drs. Alex Junia, immediate past president/CPR-Ready Phils. adviser; Orlando Bugarin, director and Advocacy Committee chair and Francis Lavapie, PHA Council on CPR chair, who have indulgently supported the CPR training program of RWM since 2012.
The emcee, Dr. Don Robespierre Reyes, The Heart News & Views editor in chief, recorded the event in between his hosting tasks and uploaded the video on FB.
The awarding was witnessed by the RWM medical staff, Corporate Communications executives, PHA staff and media.
“The PHA recognizes RWM initiatives and efforts in making its facilities CPR-equipped. Twenty-five percent or 1,271 employees are already trained in Basic Life Support (BLS) or hands-only CPR, and in the usage of the automated external defibrillator (AED). From its original five found only in clinics and ambulances to public areas for accessibility in 2014, RWM added 12 more units,“ said Bugarin.
“Now, it has 34 trained and certified staff, and teams of Advanced Cardiac Life Support aids, in-house physicians, nurses and emergency medical technicians who do alternating shifts to ensure standby assistance. The award is the first in the resort/hotel/entertainment industry and for PHA as far as its CPR training and AED Advocacy campaign in public and private enterprises, are concerned,” said Lavapie.
Bugarin and Lavapie took turns in taking the RWM and media people to a tour of the PHA CPR-Ready Philippines Advocacy journey -- the PHA’s plum role in promoting hands-only CPR for K-12 students which culminated in the enactment of Republic Act 10871 or the CPR Law which is also nicknamed Samboy Lim Law in July 2016; ongoing “CPR on Wheels & Wings” campaign, and how RWM’s similar pioneering CPR activities greatly contribute in elevating the country’s status in CPR.
Partners in Saving Lives
“SCA can affect anybody, anywhere,” Lapitan stated, denoting the ramifications of this occurrence that is aimed to be remedied by the CPR campaign, adding “70 percent of deaths are caused by cardiac arrest. Effective CPR with AED increases the chances of survival by as much as 60%.” It is important to conduct this kind of life-saving activity on a regular basis, considering the high volume of tourists and guests that frequent the hotels, restaurants, movies, entertainment areas which are housed under one huge roof.
Junia stressed the “partnership should serve as an example for other hotels and resorts to follow suit. Let us continue to be partners in saving lives. Indeed, the need to be prepared at all times is as critical as knowing how to apply BLS.“ No event is more unpredictable than SCA. “Only 15-40% of victims are given CPR upon arrest and only 3% survive when given final treatment at hospitals,” said Junia.
Reilly, a veteran hotelier, said “it is a must for the hotel industry to be prepared for disaster and medical emergencies” while relating his own personal experiences in the past. His first exposure to applying his own training was on foreign guests and the elderly, even when he was sporting a dress shirt and a bow tie.
He added “it is in these circumstances that having AEDs deployed around the property combined with a skilled staff give us the edge. We can competently solve problems within the premises.“
On peaks days, “we have 35,000 visitors in our facilities and it is good to know that they are coming into able and responsible hands,” Reilly said, adding that he acknowledges their innovativeness that made him “especially proud” in setting the initiative to put their organization at the frontier of public safety and in sharing these good practices to other hotels and even the nearby communities. “This is only the beginning. Together, we will show how important this alliance is towards saving more lives.”
Leader in CPR emergency
In terms of response to medical emergency, RWM is ahead of its fellow industry players and is at par with PHA’s CPR campaign particularly, the “CPR on Wheels & Wings” which took off in October 2016.
“In our continuous sessions with the staff, we don’t just provide trainings, but include certifications, return demonstrations and examinations to assure their comprehension beyond the simple orientation. On top of these activities is the training on how to deal with stressful situations to avoid panic while attending to a cardiac arrest victim,” said Hizon.
In RWM’s immediate future is the plan to have 50% of the total workforce trained in hands-only CPR trained in the next two years even if “this is not an easy task, as this would require them to leave their posts during the training, but definitely, we will do it,” he vowed.
No boundaries
“The hospitality trade’s main goal should always be to make clients enjoy and at the same time, make them feel safe. This is the main reason why we encourage everyone, even the man on the street and the students as young as 10 years old to learn basic CPR,” Reyes said.
The PHA is positive that the RCM initiative and citation will trigger a domino effect on all business establishments and communities. This trend will give the CPR-Ready Philippines 2021 vision a major push.
Community-wide hospitality
Hizon affirms that RWM believes that “everyone should know about CPR. That is why our institution is extending our CPR training to our neighbouring communities. Efforts at raising awareness within the community – the barangays that span Newport City’s vicinity, where the hotel, resort and entertainment chain are all located have been ongoing since 2014.
Indeed, they have already trained 88 barangay officials, personnel, tanod, from Barangays 183 and 185; faculty and staff of the Pasay City South High School and St. Therese School. They have also reached out to community members outside of Metro Manila; 300 CPR barangay health workers in various towns in Eastern Samar.
“Every year, we expand the coverage of our training,” Hizon added referring to their shared ideals of making Newport City’s leisure enterprises safe by convincing other hotels and establishments in the RWM estate to adopt the CPR- and AED-gearing up tack.