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Empowering 1,000 Hearts: Project Heart 2023 Life-Saving Mission Towards Equipping Singaporeans with CPR+AED Skills
Singapore, 14 October 2023 – In a powerful demonstration to mark World Restart a Heart Day, celebrated every year on 16 October, the Singapore Heart Foundation (SHF) empowered over 1,000 participants to save a life at its fully-subscribed, highly anticipated annual event, Project Heart today. Held at the Singapore Sports Hub, the event included students and teachers from 13 schools and members of the public who signed up to be CPR+AED certified. The event was graced by Guest of Honour, Mr Eric Chua, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Culture, Community and Youth of Singapore.
Empowering All with CPR+AED Skills
More than 3,000 individuals suffer from sudden cardiac arrest annually in Singapore, with more than 80% of these cases occurring in residential and public settings1. These Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) cases have increased steadily across the years, reaching a whopping 3,432 in 20201. However, the courageous act of a bystander administering CPR and/or AED to a public cardiac arrest case can increase survival rates by 50%2. With these statistics in mind, it is more important than ever to instil a mindset of readiness to save a life in young Singaporeans.
Project Heart commemorates World Restart A Heart Day, a global initiative to raise awareness of the importance of bystander CPR and to increase the actual bystander CPR rate worldwide3. To date, Project Heart has trained over 7,550 individuals in CPR+AED skills. This marks SHF’s crucial contribution towards the survival and well-being of all Singaporeans.
“The Singapore Heart Foundation actively advocates for CPR+AED training within the community, and provides accessible high-quality CPR+AED training to Singaporeans. Project Heart is one of the ways we contribute towards forging a path towards a brighter and heart-safe future. With these efforts, we hope that more Singaporeans become aware of their power in saving lives, one heartbeat at a time.”, said Clin A/Prof Ching Chi Keong, Chairperson for Heart Safe Committee and Assistant Honorary Secretary of the Singapore Heart Foundation.
In addition to the training sessions, the event also presented the Survivor Awards Singapore to the heroes who have played a lifesaving role in resuscitating casualties of cardiac arrest in the community. Organised by the Unit for Pre-hospital Emergency Care (UPEC) and supported by SHF, 34 first responders, including community first responders, dispatchers, firefighters and paramedics, were commended for their courageous contribution to saving lives. Project Heart embodies SHF’s goal to equip Singaporeans with essential lifesaving skills while celebrating the heroes who have triumphed over heart-related challenges.
Extended Efforts In Growing A Community of First Responders
Besides the annual Project Heart, SHF continues its commitment to cardiac resuscitation through comprehensive and strategic community resuscitation initiatives. As a lead up to World Restart A Heart Day, SHF worked with the Singapore Civil Defence Force, Singapore Red Cross Society, St John Singapore and UPEC to conduct a total of 223 CPR+AED awareness sessions, with more than 3,200 participants to date. Believing that all citizens of the world can save a life, it is crucial to ensure that more Singaporeans are aware of the basic CPR+AED skills required to potentially save a life.
Beyond training members of the public, SHF is also extending its resuscitation training efforts to corporate offices, where cases of OHCA occur regularly due to the stressful environment4. In SHF’s recent sessions with global healthcare company, Novartis, a total of 167 associates, including leaders from the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMA) region, were trained in the comprehensive CPR+AED certification course. This is also part of Novartis’ ongoing commitment towards “unblocking” barriers to heart health under the Novartis Unblocked Movement.
