SHAH ALAM - Delaying cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) reduces survival chances.
This highlights the importance of educating people about CPR, starting with physical education (PE) classes in schools.
Teaching CPR in PE classes is a crucial step towards equipping students with life-saving skills.
Integrating this training into the curriculum could ensure that young people are prepared to act swiftly and confidently in emergencies.
Taylor’s University Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences senior lecturer Dr Aishah Mohd Hafiz said that it was important to educate people about CPR.
"CPR involves chest compressions to mimic the heart's action, supplying vital organs like the brain and heart with remaining oxygen in the blood. This buys time until further treatment can be administered and sometimes, the act of CPR alone can restart the heart.
"The longer the delay in starting CPR, the lower the chances of survival. That is why it is vital to educate people about CPR, even starting at the school level in PE classes," she said.
She said this during Sinar Daily's Sports Matters podcast.
Aishah also said that for major sporting events, organising a medical team often became an afterthought and merely a checklist item.
She said proper planning involving the medical team in strategising their placement, ensuring access routes for ambulances and planning for immediate availability of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) throughout the event area was important.
"For example, during a marathon, AEDs should be strategically placed to reach any participant within five minutes. Having an emergency response plan at the organisational and team levels can significantly reduce response time.
"Imagine a group of footballers where one member knows CPR and can act immediately if a teammate goes into cardiac arrest, this immediate action could be lifesaving," she said.
Organisations like St John, she said offered free CPR and AED training and many companies now recognised the importance of such training.
Regarding the unfortunate sudden death of China's badminton player Zhang Zhijie, Aishah said many people had criticised the medical team for being late.
However, she said she learned that during a competition, the umpire controls who can enter the court.
She said the incident highlighted the lack of recognition of cardiac arrest symptoms.
"If the umpire and others involved in the sporting event were trained to identify signs of cardiac arrest, they could have immediately halted the game and called the medical team.
"Proper training for all personnel involved in sporting events to recognise and respond to cardiac emergencies is crucial," she added.
Aishah also said that there was legal protection for those who assisted in an emergency, under the Good Samaritan Law.
She said if someone was experiencing a cardiac arrest, of course it would be better to have someone on-site who knew how to perform CPR.
However, she said people often hesitated to help others as they were afraid of the legal repercussions if complications arise adding that in today's digital age, instead of helping someone, people would just record the incident.
"My advice is to get trained in CPR so you know what to do. By doing so, you minimise the risk of legal issues, as you can justify your actions as those of a trained good samaritan acting in good faith to help someone in need.
"We encourage as many people as possible to learn CPR," she added.