FIRST AID WHEN THERE’S NO DOCTOR AROUND

available. Most portable models use easy-to-follow step-by-step voice instructions. With the defibrillator paddle on top of the chest, it delivers an electric shock to the heart to stop the serious arrhythmia and restore the circulation. But even if there’s no defibrillator around, one can administer basic CPR or hands-only CPR by just giving compressions to the chest properly until emergency help arrives.

If the person who collapses is really unresponsive and has stopped breathing, one can begin CPR by pushing hard and fast on the person’s chest (depth of around two inches)—at the rate of 100 to 120 compressions a minute. One may do it to the tune of the song “Staying Alive” as a guide. For those trained in CPR, they should check the person’s airway and deliver rescue breaths after every 30 compressions. But for the ordinary Juan who’s not trained, just continue the chest compressions, allowing the chest to rise completely between compressions. One may alternate doing the chest compressions with another person since it can be quite exhausting after a few minutes. The chest compressions must be maintained until a portable defibrillator is available or the paramedics arrive.

This and other initial measures for emergency and nonemergency situations are available in this highly recommended book, “First Aid for Every Juan.” All proceeds go to the medical missions of Dr. Sanchez’s Hospital on Wheels (HOW), a state-of-the-art operating room in a bus, which travels nationwide to perform surgeries for indigent Filipinos for free.

For those who wish to order the book or know more how they can help the HOW medical missions, you may call tel. nos. 0930-8181467 or 0930-89909190.