Trained CPR personnel needed in establishments

June 18, 2017 Opinion Sideglance

City Councilor Elmer Datuin has filed a proposed legislative measure intended to require all private and public establishments in the City of Baguio to provide basic life support services to their clients and customers by employing personnel trained in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) who can administer the same as well as utilize the automated external defibrillators (AED) in case of emergency situations involving their clients and customers within their facilities.

In the said proposed ordinance Councilor Datuin explained that the public has been made acutely aware of certain life threatening emergencies where the application of timely first aid and basic life support services has saved the lives of individuals.

Datuin noted that in Republic Act No. 10871 otherwise known as the “Basic Life Support Training in Schools Act” require all public and private schools in the country to provide basic education to their students in giving basic life support training through the use of psychomotor training in an age-appropriate manner and which will teach the students how to apply CPR and basic life support in situations where someone in their vicinity suffers sudden cardiac arrest. The Alderman also noted that the late Senator Mirriam Defensor Santiago authored two bills the purpose of which is to provide adequate first aid care to victims of heart attacks and to train children to administer AED to increase survival rate of the victims of heart attack. The Senate Bills mentioned by Hon. Datuin are Senate Bill No. 1752 entitled “An Act Requiring the placement of defibrillators in Public Use Airports” also known as the Defibrillators in Airports Act, and Senate Bill No. 1893 entitled “An Act Directing the Secretary of Education to Establish a Program to Provide Grants for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Automated External Defibrillator Training in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools or otherwise known as the “Training Children to Save Lives Act”.

Similarly, Datuin also pointed out in his proposed measure that there is House Bill No. 5327 also known as “An Act Requiring the Placement of Defibrillators in Public Places purposely to broaden the bills filed by the late Senator Santiago in order to include not only public use airports but also public establishments where a considerable number of the population may be gathered such as malls, hotels, and public offices and establishments.

With the above the alderman cited the need for the said bills to be supported by the local government by requiring all establishments whether public or private to employ personnel who are CPR knowledgeable and who can administer and use the AED in the event a client or customer of the business establishment will require such basic life support services.

As defined under the said proposed ordinance CPR is an emergency procedure that combines chest compressions often with artificial ventilation in an effort to manual preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person who is in cardiac arrest. An AED meanwhile is a portable electronic device used to counteract fibrillation of the heart muscle and restore normal heartbeat by applying a brief electric shock.