PILAR, Bataan: The Philippine Heart Association (PHA) on Saturday declared this town as the first CPR – Ready Municipality or the first trained town in Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation in the Philippines.
Drs. Aurelia Leus and Orlando Bugarin, PHA national president and vice president, respectively, presented the award to Pilar Vice-Mayor Mariano Caguimbal and other municipal officials at the government center here.
Pilar became host to the celebration of Heart Month that has for the theme One Heart, One Nation where residents availed of free screenings, laboratory tests and medical consultations.
Bugarin, a well-known cardiologist in Bataan, is chair of Heart Month 2020.
The residents also got pointers on sudden cardiac arrest, Angina awareness, one-minute workout anytime of the day and tutorial on Hands only CPR and use of Automated External Defbrillator (AED).
Maricel Aquino, chief of the Pilar municipal disaster risk reduction management office, said the award was something every residents of the town should be proud of. She said it was through the initiative of Mayor Carlos Pizarro, Jr. that they got the honor.
“Ibababa sa community kung paano magsagawa ng tamang kahandaan at sapat na kaalaman pagdating sa isang sakuna o emergency kabilang ang CPR at readiness ng bawat mamamayan,” the MDRRMO head said.
“Ipagpapatuloy hanggang sa barangay level para pati households matututo rin upang maging handa,” municipal Councilor Ces Garcia said.
Organized by the Philippine Heart Association national and Central Luzon Chapter, the CPR Excellence Awarding rite was the centerpiece of Heart Month 2020 Fair.
Witnessing the historic moment were members of the PHA Board of Directors — Drs. Gilbert Vilela, Ronald Cuyco, Rodney Jimenez, Vincent Valencia, and Francis Lavapie, chair PHA Council on CPR, Dr. Jeffrey Patawaran, PHA CL Chapter president and Dr. Luigi Pierre Segundo.
The PHA Healthy Lifestyle advocacy is codenamed 52100 – 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, not more than 2 hours of screen time/not more than 2 grams of added salt, 1 hour of physical activity, 0 sugared beverages and 0 smoking.
“Our dream is to bring CPR to every Filipino home,” Bugarin said.
