Health Ministry to train 10 million Thais to save people experiencing heart attacks
The King’s Volunteer 904 Central Coordination Centre has assigned the Public Health Ministry to provide training to 10 million Thai nationals on the basic life-saving skills of performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and using an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED).
Under this project, the ministry will formulate a standardised curriculum for training the public in CPR and AED and publish the materials online. The project will aim to provide 10 million Thais with the knowledge, including at least 3.5 million of whom will be able to perform CPR and use an AED, Public Health permanent-secretary Dr Sukhum Kanchanapimai said.
Sukhum said the project was part of a larger campaign in which medical specialist volunteers will provide medical check-ups and treatment to needy people in honour of His Majesty the King Rama X on the occasion of his royal coronation.
The CPR and AED training will also be carried out wherever this campaign’s activities are held. It has so far had trained 2,500 people to perform CPR and use an AED, he added.
Thais suffer an average 54,000 deaths yearly from heart disease. If patients receive properly performed CPR within four minutes after their heart has stopped beating, they could be saved from serious injury, disability or death, said Sukhum, hence it is very important for the rescuers to know and correctly provide CPR and use an AED.
