If a member of your family stopped breathing, would you know how to perform CPR on them? National Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Week is from 4 to 10 November and aims to raise awareness about the importance of learning CPR.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR is an emergency procedure. It is performed in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person who is in cardiac arrest. The Resuscitation Council of South Africa offers courses in CPR for members of the public, family members, relatives and friends of adults and children at risk for sudden death. It is ideal for laypersons with no prior medical knowledge who want to learn life-saving rescue skills for their loved ones.
The Resuscitation Council of Southern Africa is a voluntary co-ordinating body whose primary aim is to foster and co-ordinate the practice and teaching of resuscitation, and to promote uniformity and standardisation of resuscitation techniques.
Objectives of the Resuscitation Council of Southern Africa are:
• To gather and collate as much scientific information regarding resuscitation techniques from as wide a variety of sources as possible, and to disseminate this information to all interested parties.
• To provide an advisory and resource service regarding techniques, equipment, teaching methods and teaching aids.
• To foster research into methods of practice and teaching of resuscitation.
• To pursue the development of standards for resuscitation equipment and to provide simplicity and uniformity in techniques and terminology regarding resuscitation.