Mohali
23 October 2017
DIVYA AZAD
With an aim to build a “generation of lifesavers” Fortis Hospital Mohali decided to take a hands-on initiative to promote basic life support (BLS) skills amongst children through the “Hands on Heart Club”. About 48 children between the age group of 8 to 15 years attended the workshop.
In the past year the club has been able to impart lifesaving skills to over 1500 students from dozens of Tri-city schools through regular workshops hosted by the hospital.
This year the hospital took the opportunity to encourage parents to enroll their children in the volunteer training program during their Diwali break. The session was graced by the presence of Dr. Gurbir Singh, Regional Medical Director (North and East), Dr. Rajiv Bedi, Director, Fortis Cancer Institute,Dr. Amit Kumar Mandal, Director, Critical Care, Arun Kumar, Senior Consultant, Critical Care.
The children underwent a session with AHA-certified ACLS Instructors Dr. Parvinder Chawla, Senior Consultant, Internal Medicine, Dr. Shweta Prabhakar, Regional Quality Head (North & East), Dr. Preet Kamal, Resident, General ICU, Harvinder Kaur,Clinical Instructor & Sister Mandeep, Clinical Instructor. They took turns to demonstrate the ease and importance of learning Basic First Aid & hands-only Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) as part of the workshop.
The children were educated about few life-saving skills such as the initial assessment of the person seen collapsing or found collapsed, the technique to give CPR, how to help a person who is choking and the basic techniques of administering first-aid treatment in cases of minor-cuts, nose bleeding, fracture etc. The training was imparted through iteractive videos and hands-on practice sessions showing the various steps of resuscitation on the adult mannequins.
AHAs Heart Saver First Aid CPR AED student workbook was also provided to each student and after the session, each child was given the opportunity to earn an AHA wallet card through practical assessment by the instructors.
On the occasion Mr. Abhijit Singh, Facility Director, Fortis Hospital Mohali, said, “This is an excellent initiative by the hospital’s doctors and instructors to promote BLS education amongst children. The young minds seem excited about the skills they are being imparted. The team has done a good job to prepare children for times when they may unexpectedly need to perform life support to save the life of another.”
Mr. Amit Gulati, father of Kritika, the youngest participant said, “My daughter has learnt a valuable lesson in life. It is a very good initiative taken by Fortis to educate children about BLS. The instructors have taken the pains to explain the importance of BLS for young children. This effort is commendable.”
