Save a Life - Learn CPR

CPR on Wheels & Wings from coast to coast

Philippine Heart Association (PHA) President Dr. Raul Lapitan is determined to propel the CPR-Ready Philippines Campaign to a new dimension – to new heights and depths.

“PHA is casting its sights on the tourism sector. We are organizing the CPR-Ready Philippines Campaign’s CPR on Wheels & Wings project, with Boracay as the pilot site and Cebu as the second leg. We are in the process of finalizing the list of destinations,” he said.

PHA is taking the lead in transforming the travel industry players into CPR-equipped establishments.

Boracay is every local and international tourists’ dream destination. The island Paradise is one of the tourism/travel trade’s top cash cows. It generates high volumes of repeat and new inbound international/local traffic.

Lapitan said “we are putting priority on places that burst with visitors. We need to train and teach the municipal and barangay health workers the hotel/resort front liners, staff and support service workers (the boatmen, drivers, tour guides, local police, vendors, et al), how to revive a cardiac arrest and drowning victim. This emergency procedure should be done immediately and properly, while waiting for the ambulance that will take the victim to the hospital.”

There have been news reports about sudden cardiac arrests (SCA) and drowning incidents in bay resorts and hotels. Deaths from SCA and drowning could have been prevented if these tourists facilities were CPR-equipped and installed with an external defibrillator. The Philippines has to be in step with its Asian neighbors that are CPR-savvy.

This project is also buoyed by the passage of the CPR Law; huge success of the first simultaneous Nationwide Mass CPR Training in April this year; the notable accomplishments of PHA under the leadership of PHA immediate past president Dr. Alex Junia and the growing number of CPR Advocacy network of allies from all fronts.

“We want to be remembered as the heart society that played a big part in converting these locations into tourism havens to the max,” added Lapitan.

The PHA is set to meet up with Department of Tourism Undersecretary Alma Jimenez on September 19, 2016, to explore the merits of a possibe DOT-PHA tie-up.

CPR Act lapses into law
Angara extols Guiao, PHA

The CPR Act, now known as Republic Act 10871, lapsed into law on July 17, 2016. This came as then Pres. Benigno Simeon Aquino failed to sign it into law before he stepped down from Malacanang this July.

Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, principal author of the CPR law (Senate Bill 3204), extolled former Pampanga Rep. Yeng Guiao, head coach of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the Philippine Basketball Association, Philippine Heart Association (PHA), and other stakeholders “who helped in the passage of this law which is a very vital measure.”

In July 2015, Guiao introduced House Bill 6204 or the CPR Act or “Samboy Lim Bill” to the House Committee on Basic Education and Culture chaired by Rep. Kim Cojuangco.

PHA President Dr. Raul Lapitan lauded Congress and Senate (particularly Reps. Cojuangco and Guiao, Sens. Angara and Pia Cayetano), the family of PBA legend Samboy Lim, represented by the latter’s former wife Atty. Darlene Marie Berberabe and their daughter Jamie Lim, for their extreme support.

Lapitan, the new PHA honcho also added that the PHA Board, especially immediate past president Dr. Alex Junia, deserves a pat on the back for this milestone.

PHA is part of the lobby group that successfully pushed for the drafting of House Bill 6204 and Senate Bill 3204, the “CPR Act which requires basic education students to undergo age-appropriate basic life support training.”

The PHA Board of Directors 2016-2016 – Drs. Junia, president; Lapitan, vice president; Jorge Sison, secretary; Helen Ong-Garcia, treasurer; Nannette Rey, Aurelia Leus and Orlando Bugarin, directors, and Francis Lavapie, chair of the PHA Council on CPR, were in full force in the House and Senate Committee meetings. In all the meetings and hearings, Berberabe was with the PHA doctors.

The PHA Board’s initial meeting with Guiao was arranged by PHA Central Luzon Chapter member Dr. Domicias Albacite, a cabalen of the good congressman.
Guiao and Angara also call RA10871 the Samboy Lim Law because of the case of the basketball legend which precipitated the filing of the bill. Lim collapsed during an exhibition game with fellow PBA bigshots in November 2014. No one among his colleagues knew how to do basic CPR. The trip from Ynares gym to The Medical City took 26 minutes. He fell into a coma for one month. Lim had been out of the hospital but is under the care of nurses 24/7. He undergoes regular therapy and is being visited by doctors in his residence.

Lapitan said that PHA reiterates that “administering 2.5 inches deep, 100-120 chest compressions per minute when someone’s heart stopped beating increases the victim’s survival rate by 25 percent. The procedure keeps vital blood flow to the heart and brain, therefore preventing brain and organ damage.”

He added that “beating the 4-minute window period with CPR could have minimized the damage to Lim’s vital organs.”

Angara told reporters that “young Filipinos may become lifesavers now that we have a law requiring cardiopulmonary resuscitation training as part of the country’s basic education curriculum. CPR is an essential lifesaving skill that ordinary citizens and even our youth can be trained to do.”The said measure mandates all public and private basic education schools in the country to make CPR training a requisite prior to graduation.

CPR Law ignites media interest

With mass media by its side in its clamor for the passage of the CPR Bill, the Philippine Heart Association’s CPR Advocacy gained impressive media mileage in July and August 2016

A growing number of requests poured in from various media and private organizations
A factor to this boost is the recent passage of the CPR Act (House Bill 6204, Senate bill 3204 now RA 10871), which furthered PHA’s advocacy through media partnerships as the vehicle.

Requests for CPR trainings came from the HR Department of GMA 7 network, Health & Lifestyle and the Manila Times, while risk factor screenings were asked by the DzMM Grand Kapamilya Day and GMA Kapuso Foundation with cardiologists in their September barangay medical mission, among others.

Media partners have also been punctual in raising awareness to the public about the hazards of cardiovascular implications and how it could affect anyone, as attested by tragedies that befell noted athletes and health icons, former PBA player Samboy Lim – whose ill fate resulted in his current immobile state – and, more recently, PBA athlete, Gilbert Bulawan – whose sudden cardiac arrest lead to his unfortunate death.

Other media outlets and publications have also partaken in the effort to hasten the progress of the advocacy, through progress reports on the proposed instigation of CPR into basic and secondary education institutions where CPR is campaigned to be a mandatory learning and education unit for students, as well as follow-up stories for the Bill’s status at the Executive Branch of the government for complete integration of the CPR Law in the country.

Medical insights on habits that increase the likelihood of contracting heart complications have also been released as precautionary measures, with efforts being done by cardiologists and the PHA in enlightening everyone about cardiovascular risks and management.
MAUREEN A. GONZALES