A heart awareness campaign in Pune
To promote heart health and raise awareness about cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) among the general population, on April 7, World Health Day, RC Pune Laxmi Road, RID 3131, and Revive Heart Foundation, came together to launch Project Dhadkan, a three week CPR awareness programme which was carried out in various parts of Pune. MLA Siddhartha Shirole launched the project.
The programme had guidance from eminent cardiologists such as Dr Jagdish Hiremath, Dr Sunil Sathe, and Dr Kinjal Goyal from RHF, said project director Ketan Shah, who is the club’s immediate past president.
Increasingly, incidents of people getting sudden cardiac arrest and collapsing are surfacing. Add to this relatively fit people in their early 40s succumbing to sudden heart attacks. The importance of trying to revive such people with immediate CPR was stressed during the various sessions.
To raise public awareness multiple initiatives, such as media interviews, a well-attended music programme etc were held in the city. Shah estimates that the involvement of 12 Rotary clubs, PYC Deccan Gymkhana, and many other institutions, as well as a dozen cardiologists, ensured this awareness and educative programme reached thousands of Pune’s citizens. Following each training and awareness session, the team distributed free booklets in both Marathi and English, providing comprehensive guidance on administering CPR and operating the required machines to revive the affected persons.
In phase two of the project, five AED (Automatic External Defribrilator) machines were installed at strategic locations. Bollywood stars such as Kajol, Ajay Devgan, Shilpa Shetty and Abhishek Bachchan lent support to this project on their social media handles. “We are happy that with the hard work put in by Rotarians, led by our club members, this project was a resounding success, effectively spreading the message of heart health and CPR, and hopefully will go a long way in making Pune the most cardiac-safe city of India,” Shah added.
