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CPR on Wings & Wheels shares early Christmas Joy

Scores 4,623 participants

ILOILO CITY, Iloilo December 4, 2016 – It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.Holiday staples – giant Christmas trees, garlands, balls, lights, lanterns – that deck the major arteries, windows and porches of establishments, halls, homes, yards and garden areas; the nippy air and moderate to heavy vehicular traffic and human traffic in malls and tiangge, remind you that it is 20 days before Christmas.

According to the Philippine Heart Association (PHA), the Holiday season is a good time to convey these very important reminders:

1. During reunions, revel and rest, let us renew and/or reinforce our resolve to pamper our earthly bodies. Don’t overwork your heart.

2. During the season of indulgence and merriment when everyone least expects it, cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. Brace yourselves.

3. Learn preventive cardiology. Even if food and drinks are boundless, practice moderation in your diet. Even if parties are seamless, don’t make a fully-booked calendar an excuse not to exercise.

4. Save a life. Learn CPR. Administering prompt hands-only CPR or 100-120 chest compressions per minute on a cardiac arrest victim will bring him/her back to life and increase the victim’s chance of survival by 33 percent. You buy time while waiting for the ambulance. Early recognition and resuscitation prevents irreparable brain impairment. Seventy percent of cardiac arrest cases happen at home and in public places, and in most cases, happens in the presence of a loved one, who unfortunately, does not know how to do event basic CPR.

In the continued effort to gear up the country towards an all-encompassing, all-inclusive safety and survival platform, the PHA is turning CPR into a panoptic course providing accessible CPR tools to tourist establishments, municipalities and Barangay Health Workers (BHW).
Cases of Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) as well as drownings that were not properly addressed have been reported. Most tourist facilities are disaster-ready but not exactly CPR-equipped.

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.

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