SHP Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) Programme / CPR Training
In Singapore, heart disease is the second most common causes of death, being responsible for about 24% of total mortality. About 2,400 people develop an acute heart attack in Singapore. In addition, nearly 1,000 people suffer from sudden cardiac arrest in the out-of-hospital environment and another few hundreds sustain sudden cardiac arrest after reaching hospital. The total survival rate for the group of pre-hospital collapses is about 2.6%. Public education and training in Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) are crucial in reducing sudden death, because the majority of these deaths occur out of hospital. The actions taken during the first few minutes of an Emergency are critical to victim survival. It can be performed by any of us, anywhere.
Programme
Basic Life Support is an essential part of medical care. All medical and paramedical staff have to be trained and updated regularly for BCLS. The SHP Training Centre has been accredited by National Resuscitation Council (NRC) on 6th June 2008. In SHP, BCLS courses are conducted bi-monthly at one of the SingHealth Polyclinics. Participants include doctors, nurses and pharmacists. The course includes lectures, demonstrations and small group skills training in CPR. There is a test at the end and successful candidates are issued with a certificate that is valid for 2 years.
SHP also conducts the Heartsaver course, a CPR workshop, for non-healthcare workers. The course works are similar to the BCLS, but focus specifically on the performance of one-man CPR. There is a test at the end of the course and successful candidates are issued with a certificate that is valid for 2 years.