Cardiac arrest: NGOs train emergency responders on CPR to save lives

A non-governmental organisation- Mobola Kukoyi Foundation (MKF) and Health Emergency Initiative (HEI) have partnered to deepen training on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) with the aim of saving lives in emergency situations.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is a procedure that helps to save a person’s life when breathing or the heart stops. When a person’s heart stops beating, he or she is in cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest is a situation in which the heart cannot pump blood to the rest of the body, including the brain and lungs – this can result in death.

The recent training, according to Paschal Achunine, executive director, HEI, involved personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), the Police, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO), Fire Service.

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“We have trained and equipped (directly and indirectly) more than 37,600 personnel of emergency agencies, including FRSC, police, traffic managers, vehicle inspectors, fire service, secondary school students, commercial transporters, despatch riders, vulcanisers, etc on CPR,” said, Achunine.

Also, Mobola Kukoyi, founder of MKF, said they also recently organised a community outreach in Mushin, Lagos with over 68 participants, where experts and trainers from FRSC and Lagos State Emergency Ambulance Services (LASAMBUS) shared practical field-related experiences that community members could relate to.

During the outreach, Kukoyi said, “Coursework and practical sessions were led by American Heart Association certified tutors together with MKF volunteers and covered topics such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation first aid for burns, choking, sprains, fractures among others. Every participant was also afforded the opportunity to demonstrate care for a collapsed victim and also practice supervised chest compressions. CPR saves lives,” said.

The next phase of the project, he explained, would be smaller pockets of outreaches by paired volunteers to reach out to various communities in Lagos, including workplaces and religious organisations, equipping community members with the right knowledge and skills while also changing the current mindset and approach to emergencies.

MKF is a non-profit organisation established in 2017 dedicated to optimising healthcare delivery in resource-limited settings and fostering youth empowerment.