Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a key lifesaving technique all people should know to save lives in emergency situations.
With an average of 1 500 people drowning in South Africa every year, the importance of teaching as many people as possible to do bystander CPR is critical.
Saturday (16 October) marks World Restart a Heart Day, which highlights this need.
Jill Fortuin, executive director of drowning prevention at the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), said that since its water safety education programme was introduced in 2006, more than three million people have been taught critical lifesaving skills such as CPR and what to do in an emergency.
Water safety lessons are crucial as they equip individuals with skills that could potentially save a person’s life.
An eight-year-old named Donnalee in Ceres was saved by four boys who did CPR on her after she nearly drowned in a farm dam.
They had been taught how to do CPR two years before, at their primary school by an NSRI instructor.
There are more stories such as Donnalee’s, and they are testimony that drowning prevention methods are key within society.
