To further amplify the importance of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) as a lifesaving skill and reinforce its call for more first aiders, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) held a series of activities nationwide to celebrate the National CPR Day on July 17 with the theme: Shaping Culture: Towards a CPR-Ready Philippines. 

A simultaneous CPR was conducted at the University of the East Campus, targeting 2,000 students and school personnel. Meanwhile, 50,000 individuals participated in a mass CPR demonstration at PRC’s 102 chapters across the country. 

One of the major highlights of the program was the launch of the CPR Caravan, which will run from July 18 to the World Restart a Heart Day on October 16. The Caravan aims to educate at least one million participants nationwide, equipping them with knowledge and competence on how to save lives through performing CPR. 

The PRC is offering these training sessions to the public for free. The CPR demonstration schedules will be announced soon. 

“We’re observing CPR Day by Proclamation 551 or the “National Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Day.” You cannot save a life if you don’t know what to do. That’s why it is important to learn and practice that lifesaving skill.  I even trained my grandchildren to do CPR,” PRC Chairman and CEO Dick Gordon stated. 

“By learning CPR, you can be a hero because it gives you the power to save lives. We’re doing these efforts because we want to build a culture of safety among Filipinos by having at least one trained first aider in every household,” he added.

Meanwhile, PRC Secretary-General Dr. Gwen Pang mentioned that for this year, the PRC is promoting the ASAP strategy in implementing CPR knowledge and skill effectively,” This year, we are highlighting our ASAP strategy for CPR: A for Awareness, we have to make more people to be aware about the importance of CPR; S for Skills, you need to be skilled to perform it right and well; A for Access, we are influencing people to be sustainable by using jerry cans as a DIY mannequin for example; and P for Perform, when you finally learn it, you’ll be more confident to perform it. The PRC continues its call to action by raising awareness to achieve a CPR-Ready Philippines.

These initiatives are in support of the implementation of Republic Act (RA) No. 10871, a law aimed at equipping citizens with the necessary knowledge and skills to respond to health emergencies.