Hundreds of people underwent Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training across Qatar when Hamad Medical Corporation launched a two-day CPR awareness campaign.

The demonstration was held mainly at the Doha Corniche where 50 stations with two trainers each and mannequins and mattress, had been set up. There were also demonstration and training sessions at the Wakra Corniche, Katara - Cultural Village, City Center Doha, Landmark Mall, The Gate Mall and Gulf Mall. The campaign will conclude on Saturday with indoor training at the malls.

Dr. Khalid Abdulnoor Saifeldeen, director of Hamad International Training Centre, (HITC) said he was encouraged by the turnout to witness the demonstration as well as to undergo the training at various stations of the campaign.

“This is a great occasion to spread the importance of this training to save lives. We expect a large number of people to benefit from this training and make use of it in case an emergency occurs.”

The official pointed out that the first 10 minutes after a cardiac arrest, are the most important to save life. "In most cases, during this time, there may not be any medical help available as most of the cardiac cases happen outside the medical environment. Every minute after a cardiac arrest, there is 10 % reduction in survival possibility if there is no instant medical help. Administering CPR, probably, is the only option to support such patients until medical help arrives.”

“We might make this campaign an annual feature. We have also plans to reach out to more people in the coming days. We intend to take the campaign to students by visiting the schools and giving them training on CPR. This will help in equipping the younger generation with this important skill,” he added.

One of the trainers at Doha Corniche, Jilson who works for Qatar Petroleum Air Ambulance, said that the present norm in administering CPR is to give 120 chest compressions in a minute by a trained person.

“If a person, without proper CPR training finds an individual suffering from cardiac arrest, check his breathing and inform 999 immediately. Then start administering CPR by giving compressions by holding both the hands together and pressing on the chest. An untrained person may give 70-100 compressions per minute. However, it must be continuous until the ambulance service or other medical aid arrives.”

Niranjan, an employee of Kahramaa who had visited one of the CPR training stations along with his family said he found the training very useful.

"It might be beneficial to save the lives of a number of people as the cases of cardiac arrest are on the rise everywhere. I have been in this country for about two years and I find the healthcare system here extremely good.”