Delhi AIIMS, IRCF join hands to provide CPR training to all staff

New Delhi: To effectively address the rising number of cardiac arrest cases, the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi has decided to provide Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training to all of its employees including doctors, paramedics, security guards and sanitation workers.

The doctors, paramedical staff and all the employees here will be trained in the treatment of cardiac arrest through the Made in India CPR course and they will be certified. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed with the Indian Resuscitation Council Federation (IRCF) on Wednesday to become a 100 per cent CPR-trained institute. 

AIIMS has now become the Comprehensive Resuscitation Training Center (CRTC) of IRCF. As part of this designation, the institute will train all the employees and certify them in CPR courses specifically designed for cardiac arrest treatment. The programme will be headed by Dr Shailendra Kumar of the anaesthesiology department.

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The MOU was signed in the presence of Dr M. Srinivas, (Director), Prof. Lokesh K. (HOD Anaesthesiology, Pain Medicine and Critical Care), Dr. Shailendra Kumar (Faculty, Dept of Anaesthesiology, Pain Medicine and Critical Care), Dr Vinay Kumar (President RDA) from AIIMS, New Delhi and Dr Siddha SC Chakra Rao (Chairman IRCF), Dr J V Divatia (President ISA), Dr. Sheila Myatra (President ISCCM) and Prof. Rakesh Garg (Scientific Director, IRCF). 

Speaking to The Indian Express, Dr Reema Dada, spokesperson of AIIMS Delhi said “New people who will be joining in future will also be trained and the duration of the course will be four hours for a layperson, 1-day training for paramedics and 2-day training for doctors."

“These courses have been developed with experts from across the country and are made considering our cultural and socioeconomic background. This initiative is aimed at spreading lifesaving skills widely so as to benefit our countrymen,” said a senior AIIMS doctor.

According to the National Institute of Health, Sudden cardiac death (SCD) can affect all age groups, including young persons. While less common in the age < 35 population, the occurrence of SCD in the young raises concern, with multiple possible etiologies and often unanswered questions.

Prof Rakesh Garg, IRCF scientific director told TOI "Cardiac arrest could happen anywhere. Usually the success rate of CPR decreases by 7-10% with each minute and it should be started within the initial few minutes of the arrest.”

Sharing the initiative on 'X', the official page of AIIMS Delhi said "AIIMS New Delhi Embraces Indian CPR guidelines and planning to train its 100% employees with CPR training! Aiims joined hands with the Indian Resuscitation Council Federation (IRCF), Director AIIMS & IRCF Chairman inked the MOU. Dr Shailendra will coordinate for development of the Comprehensive Resuscitation Training Centre (CRTC) of IRCF at Aiims"

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