A 34-year-old man suddenly collapsed in his Kasba home recently and was rushed to a private hospital where doctors found that he had suffered asystole, a type of cardiac arrest when the heart stops beating entirely.

Doctors at the hospital gave the man cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for more than 30 minutes along with intravenous drugs and finally the heart started beating again and the blood pressure, which had fallen alarmingly, became normal.

CPR is essential to prevent sudden cardiac death, said cardiologists at a programme to raise awareness about healthy heart by Manipal Hospitals as a prelude to World Heart Day observed on September 29.

“CPR needs to be taught at the community level, particularly where large crowds gather. Police personnel, railway and airport employees, those working at the shopping malls and also the big residential complexes should be given training for CPR,” said Rabin Chakraborty, senior vice-chairman and head of cardiology, Medica Superspeciality Hospital, a part of Manipal Hospitals.

“CPR is effective for any cardiac arrest,” said Chakraborty.

He said there are several factors leading to sudden cardiac death, including coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, a disease that affects the heart muscle making it difficult for the heart to pump blood, cardiac arrhythmia or irregular heartbeat and congenital heart disease.

“In most of these cases, CPR given at the right time can save the life of the patient. It is not only about the percentage of lives that can be saved by CPR but even if one life can be saved, it is great,” Chakraborty pointed out.

The event also saw the launch of two awareness initiatives by Manipal.

One scan can save a life — one such initiative in which boards with a QR code are fixed at traffic signals. By scanning the code, one can access the Manipal Ambulance Response Service along with video tutorials on learning how to administer CPR.

In the other initiative, the traffic lights across the jurisdiction of Bidhannagar police commissionerate are displaying heart shapes instead of the usual round shape. It will be there for five days, said a Manipal official.

Ayanabh Debgupta, regional COO (east) of Manipal Hospitals, said the healthcare group is planning similar community health programmes in all specialities.

In Calcutta, Manipal has recently taken over three hospitals of Emami-owned AMRI and Columbia Asia along with Medica Superspeciality Hospital.

“Now, we have a pool of senior doctors across these hospitals in all specialities and we can utilise this combined pool with impact,” said Debgupta.

“In cardiology, we have 25 senior interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons in the five hospitals,” he said.