New Delhi: Only two per cent of Indians are trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), a basic life-saving technique used to revive a person in emergency situations like heart attack, a major cause of deaths in the country, according to a survey.
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the number one cause of death globally, leading to more deaths annually than from any other cause.
"Even as CVDs in India have become the leading cause of deaths, 98 per cent of the country's population is not trained in technique of CPR, which is the most crucial and basic procedure to save a life in the event of a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA)," the survey says.
The survey, conducted by Lybrate, an online doctor consultation platform, included people from 20 cities in the age group of 25-50.
"Less than 2 per cent of the 1,00,000 surveyed agreed to be knowing the technique (CPR), while only 0.1 per cent said they have ever performed it on someone in case of an emergency," it said.
CPR is a life-saving technique useful in many emergencies, including heart attack or near drowning situation, in which someone's breathing or heartbeat has stopped.
Administering it in the event of someone becoming unresponsive, including when a person suffers a sudden cardiac arrest, in the initial 5-6 minutes helps revive the heart and saves the brain from a permanent damage.
"Notwithstanding the fact that people in metropolitan and tier-I cities are more pro-active about their health, the knowledge of CPR is dismal even among them, with 95 per cent of the people claiming to have no knowledge about administration of the procedure," the study claims.
India has over 30 million heart patients, and about 1.7 million Indian hearts stop beating every year, as per World Health Organisation. Studies have estimated that CVDs will account for one-third of all deaths in the country by 2020.
Countries like the US, Europe, Japan and Singapore have mandated hands-only CPR in their school curriculum, but in India such a policy is still a long way.
SCA is a major cause of death due to CVD, shockingly 60 per cent of the people who suffer it, succumb to it even before they reach hospital, according to Lybrate.
"10 per cent of the people surveyed were from Delhi (60 per cent male and 40 per cent female). Out of that, 6 per cent of the people knew about CPR," it said.
Besides Delhi, the survey was carried out in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai.
"In 90 per cent of the cases, people suffer an SCA outside hospital. It is thus extremely important that Indian population are trained in CPR," said Dr Vanita Arora, Cardiac Electrophysiologist and Interventional Cardiologist with Max Super Specialty Hospital here.
