Project Dhadkan: Learn how to save lives — in a heartbeat

CPR training at Kaveri college, Pune

“A number of cases have started surfacing and reported at gyms or public places. This can be devastating. In most situations, the person will almost certainly die without immediate intervention,” Sathe told The Indian Express.

“Bystander CPR, hence, can increase a person’s chances of survival and if an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) machine is used in time, the chances of survival are very high,” says Dr Kinjal Goyal, a Pune-based member of the Revive Heart Foundation, which is behind Project Dhadkan.

“So far the foundation has trained over 5.5 lakh people in CPR through online and offline sessions across the country,” says Goyal.

Dr Kinjal Goyal, Dr Sunil Sathe, Dr Jagdish Hiremath and Hemant Shirguppi, president, Rotary Club of Pune, Laxmi Road

Around 45 cardiologists across the country are involved in Project Dhadkan. And in Pune, the drive is being led by Sathe and Hiremath along with the Rotary Club on Laxmi Road.

The city’s first edition was conducted in September last year and this is the second edition of the drive that will last till April 30. More than 40,000 people have been trained across schools, colleges, and corporate firms. “We have reached out to employees at Pune Police, railways and other places,” says Goyal.

Sathe points out that CPR training must be compulsory for school and college students. In Pune and across the country, Symbiosis has been the first deemed university to make CPR training compulsory for students for a while now. “If all colleges can implement such an initiative, it will truly make a difference,” he says.

In Pune, for instance, St Mary’s school was the first to install an AED. “Every collapse is not a cardiac arrest and many a time could be a drop in blood pressure. Cardiac arrest is when the heart stops beating, and the brain and body do not get blood supply. In such a case, the heart must start in three minutes and it is not always possible for an ambulance to reach and initiate treatment in that short a time. Hence, CPR is like an effective first aid,” says Hiremath.

CPR is starting the heart with a massage and external shock given by AED. Subsequently, the causes of cardiac arrest are dealt with in the hospital, the cardiologists say. Their initiative also includes installing five AED systems at public places.