Kolkata: Starting September 29 – World Heart Day – the Cardiological Society of India (CSI) will be reaching out to 10 lakh people across India to create awareness regarding sudden cardiac death (SCD).
A CSI release said the activity will involve setting up physical kiosks at educational institutions, shopping malls, housing societies, police stations, and post offices to sensitize people on the issue.
A virtual learning platform has also been set up to drive awareness through online mediums.
Over the next three months, the CSI will provide hands-on Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training to more than 10,000 people across the four metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai. This will involve visiting public places, particularly the educational institutes in the cities, and conducting CPR training camps.
“Patients collapsing from SCD give a flat two and a half minutes to be revived. If we come across anyone collapsing and know the basic symptoms, immediate CPR is what is needed. Instead, we often start crowding the place and try waking him up by splashing water.
“The main agenda of this program is to ensure people are aware and cautious of SCD symptoms and can implement CPR immediately,” said CSI general secretary and senior consulting interventional cardiologist Debabrata Roy.
CSI, which has more than 5000 registered cardiologists as members, has collaborated with SATS, a critical care society accredited by American Heart Association, to launch the initiative.
Sudden Cardiac Death occurs due to a cardio-vascular cause that generally happens within an hour of the onset of the symptoms. The heart stops beating or doesn’t beat sufficiently to maintain perfusion and life. However, understanding the situation and symptoms and implementation of CPR could save thousands of lives every year, said Roy.
Researchers find that about 50 percent of Sudden Cardiac Death cases take place due to undetected Coronary Artery Disease. India-specific studies reveal that unevaluated ischemic heart disease is one of the primary causes of SCD.
“Undetected coronary artery blockages, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, dilated cardiomyopathy, ventricular arrhythmias, baseline electric abnormalities catalyze SCD, particularly in the developing nations. However, simple investigative tests like ECG can signal risks associated with these conditions,” he said.
PS Banerjee, President, CSI, and the senior cardiologist said the annual incidence of SCD in India is 53 per 1 lakh Indians constituting 5.6 percent of total mortality.
