[Letters] Learning CPR could save a loved one

We all enjoy the balmy and clear autumn days, but the temperature fluctuates by 10 degree Celsius (18 degrees Fahrenheit) from morning and night to midday. Around this time of the year, the risk of cardiovascular diseases increases drastically. An analysis of 119 emergency medical service operations indicates that over 20,000 patients suffer cardiac arrest and are sent to the hospital. Unfortunately, most of them die, with only 2.5 percent, or about 500 patients, surviving.

If left untreated for more than four minutes, a patient can suffer serious brain damage. A patient may die after 10 minutes. Unfortunately, there is only a 53 percent chance that a 119 ambulance arrives within five minutes. Therefore, being able to provide emergency medical treatments such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation greatly affects the survival and recovery rates of victims. When a patient suffers cardiac arrest and is administered CPR immediately, the survival rate increases two to three times.

CPR is not a difficult technique. If attending training sessions in person is not convenient, it’s easy to log on to the National Emergency Management Agency’s Web site at www.nema.go.kr and watch the training video on CPR techniques. Recently, a fifth grader who had learned CPR on the Internet administered CPR to his father as he suffered cardiac arrest and saved him. If you are prepared, you will be able to save the lives of your loved ones.

Li Ki-hwan, administrator of the National Emergency Management Agency