Embassy Personnel Receive Training on Hands-Only CPR

A team from the DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services demonstrate how to administer Hands-Only CPR in a training seminar held on 14 March 2018 at the Philippine Chancery Annex Building.

19 March 2018 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The personnel of the Philippine Embassy received a training on Hands-Only CPR conducted by a team from the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services (FEMS) Department on 14 March 2018 at the Chancery Annex building.

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), more than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in the United States every year. Seventy percent of this number happens at home. The AHA further states that cardiac arrest - an electrical malfunction in the heart that causes an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) and disrupts the flow of blood to the brain, lungs and other organs – is a leading cause of death in the US.

“CPR, especially if performed immediately, can double or triple a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival,” the AHA fact sheet emphasizes.

Sarah Roque, Public Health Analyst at FEMS, shared that their Department aims to train 100,000 individuals on hands-only CPR within DC.

“The Embassy thanks the DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services for sharing with us their knowledge and ability to perform this life-saving technique. None of us would want to be in a situation that calls for CPR, but if ever we find ourselves in such a situation, we would know what to do,” said Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel G. Romualdez. END

For more information, visit www.washingtonpe.dfa.gov.ph/ www.philippineembassy-usa.org or https://www.facebook.com/philippinesusa @philippinesusa on Twitter

DC FEMS Public Health Analyst Sarah Roque delivers a brief presentation on sudden cardiac arrest and the Out-of-Hospital Chain of Survival.

Embassy personnel with the DC FEMS team at the Hands-Only CPR Training held on 14 March 2018 at the Chancery Annex Building