A SPECIAL training session for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, more widely known as CPR, will be held at Shenzhen Sports Center in Futian District on Friday, aiming to enhance residents’ first-aid rescue skills.

    The sports center has invited experts from an association that is dedicated to promoting CPR knowledge and training in Shenzhen to give lectures and demonstrations Friday afternoon.

    The project aims to teach residents how to use an automated external defibrillator (AED), the most commonly used and effective device to rescue people who suffer from sudden death.

    It is a common view in the world of medicine that every public space should be equipped with an AED, and that the general public should be trained in basic first aid as well as the use of AEDs to save lives as early as possible.

    When a resident encounters a person who has passed out, the first thing they should do is to call an ambulance. Secondly, the golden four-minute rescue period should be used effectively to rescue the patient before the ambulance and medical staff arrive, which requires the rescuer to have basic knowledge of first aid and how to use an AED.

    The Shenzhen Sports Center therefore launched the project on “AED at public space & CPR rescue” to equip the center with AED devices and train its staff on how to do CPR.

    Research has shown that defibrillation could effectively reduce the death rate of patients in emergency situations. More than 80 percent of sudden death cases happen on sports courts, in communities or other public places.

    The association that is working with the sports center to provide the training was established in February 2015. It is a nonprofit organization comprised of teachers and students from the Institute of Hospital Management of Tsinghua University, on-duty medical staff and volunteers. The main lecturer at Friday’s training is the founder of the association. (Zhang Qian)