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- GYNNA GAGELONIA, Facilitator, Usapang Puso sa Puso (UPP) Media Q&A, Media Relations Officer, Philippine Heart Association (PHA)
MANILA — Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)-ReadyPH allies have urged the government anew to act swiftly on the passage of the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Law and the National CPR Day Law.
The urgent call was made by a team of health professionals from the Philippine Heart Association (PHA), Philippines College of Emergency Medicine (PCEM), Pasig City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, and a councilor from Mabalacat, Pampanga, during the PHA Usapang Puso sa Puso (UPP) webinar which tackled “ZapPinas: AED sa Pamayanan, Dugtong Buhay yan!” live-streamed on the PHA Facebook page on July 17, 2023. It was dedicated to the 7th anniversary of National CPR Day.
Department of Health-Health Emergency Management Bureau (DOH-HEMB) Director Dr. Bernadett Velasco announced that the National CPR Day declaration is due for ratification.
She said “there was an Executive Order to declare July 17 as National CPR Day, but it didn’t push through, but we put the papers in again and we wanted to have this signed, and we attended a hearing. It has been refiled and is set for approval. So the DOH is supportive.”
Velasco added: “During the Health Emergency Preparedness Day, we signed a commitment of support with the PHA to push for CPR, also other topics and issues we can work together on. We want to laymanize everything, we want the community to understand CPR and how to respond during SCA. We can collaborate here. We can target which communities need focusing.”
For PHA, it is high time that July 17 be declared a National CPR Day and a holiday, to heighten public awareness about the priceless value of early hands-only CPR for the lay and administering with a public AED before an ambulance arrives. Prompt hands-only CPR saves lives while prompt response using an AED increases the victim’s chance of survival three times over.
The CPR Act (which mandates public and private schools to include age-appropriate basic life support in their curriculum) was the first huge milestone marked by the PHA-led CPR-ReadyPh Campaign that was launched in June 2015 as the PHA’s flagship Advocacy project. Buoyed by it remarkable feat in July 2016, PHA lobbied for the AED Bill in the same year.
MORE AFFORDABLE AEDs
With an AED Law, the procurement and deployment of AEDs in strategic public spaces becomes compulsory. This will also result in more affordable prices of the lifesaving device. An AED costs from Php70,000 to Php250,000. The PHA and PCEM doctors lamented that the AED, National CPR Day, and Emergency Medical System bills have always been pushed aside or were not on the list of priority bills.
Dr. Richard Santos, PCEM immediate past president said that “for the past years, there have been EMS Bills in both Houses of Congress, but they were disregarded.”
According to the PSA, ischemic heart disease remained the leading cause of mortality among Filipinos with 77,173 deaths recorded from January to September 2022.
Velasco said that “most sudden cardiac arrest cases (SCA) are due to ischemia. Heart diseases accounted for 18 percent of the top killer diseases in 2022. Through the years, heart disease has always been the number one cause of mortality in the Philippines and on a global scale, even at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to PHA President Dr. Ronald Cuyco.
He added that high cardiovascular disease death statistics have been staring at us. “We already have data from the DOH, Philippine Statistics Authority (PHA), the fact is AED is a very important gadget, one of the major solutions to prevent deaths from SCA.”
The chances of survival for an SCA victim are very low without prompt and proper CPR. The response should begin onsite before taking the victim to the hospital which is why it is important to learn hands-only CPR and have access to an AED.
MABALACAT BEEFS UP HEALTH EMS, AED A PRIORITY
“Kung walang political will, walang mangyayari. Dito sa Mabalacat, wala namang problema. We support all the efforts to pass the AED Law,” Mabalacat, Pampanga, Councilor Fercival dela Pena said. He was one of two province-based CPR advocates who guested on the online forum.
Mabalacat town is working on an efficient emergency response system. “Our 911 emergency hotline which is part of the Command Center is in the works. We have three AEDs that are installed in three ambulances.” He also said that “equipping our barangays with an AED is a priority of Mayor Crisostomo Garbo who is a medical doctor,” Dela Pena added.
Mabalacat where Clark is located has a population of 293, 244, according to the 2020 census. Meanwhile, the Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone, covers two Pampanga cities and one town –Mabalacat, Angeles and Porac; and two Tarlac towns – Capas and Bamban.
PHA Central Luzon Chapter under the presidency of Dr. Rayzen Canono-Lim, whose term began on July 1, 2023, pledged to cascade and fully embrace the flagship projects – CPR-/AED-Ph campaign, Research and Stronger Media Alliance of PHA National.
GOLDEN PERIOD
PHA Council on CPR Chair Dr. Don Reyes emphasized “that it is best to do the intervention to a SCA victim in four minute to avoid irreparable brain debilitation.”
Doubly emphasizing the benefits of beating the deadline, he said, “dapat buhay
hindi gulay.”
“SCA can affect anyone, anytime, anywhere so we should always be ready. The PHA advocates awareness and readiness, with this year’s campaign focus on AEDs to increase the chances of survival” he declared.
Echoing Reyes’ insight, PHA Director III and Communications Chair Dr. Luigi Pierre Segundo, said that “not all SCAs can be addressed with just chest compressions. CPR immediately followed by AED use would reduce the chance of neurologic damage and increase the odds of a meaningful survival, meaning the patient is not just alive but fully functioning.”
While CPR is a crucial skill to have in the event of an SCA, AED utilization could turn the tide of an emergency to a greater extent while awaiting ambulatory aid.
Simple to use with visual and audio guidance, untrained bystanders can administer lifesaving measures using an AED.
Reiterating that PHA will keep CPR-ReadyPH going and will never rest on its laurels, PHA Director Dr. Louella Santos, concurrent Advocacy chair, said “we aren’t stopping here. There are plans to make other places AED-ready. Awareness is one thing, but concrete projects will further the goal of bring CPR to every Filipino home so that eventually every Filipino is CPR-savvy.”
SAMBOY LIM’S CASE SPURRED CPR LAW
The yearly National CPR Day which started on July 17, 2017, exactly one year after CPR Law/RA Act (also known as Samboy Lim) lapsed into law on July 16, 2016, is a mere observance of the historic date and a remarkable feat because the bill became a law 10 months after it was filed.
Basketball legend Samboy Lim’s story became instrumental in the passage of the bill.
He suffered a heart attack after coming out of a PBA exhibition game at the Ynares Center in Pasig City. He didn’t get prompt CPR because no one among his colleagues who witnessed his arrest knew how to do CPR and there was no AED available. Due to the horrendous traffic, the responders failed to beat the less than 5 minutes window time. (/)
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Source: PHA Media Unit