NEW DELHI: Former Indian Medical Association (IMA) chief KK Aggarwal has written to the Central Board of Film Certification, seeking accurate portrayal of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in movies saying lives can be saved if people are educated about the emergency procedure.
CPR is the most basic procedure to save a life in the event of a sudden cardiac arrest.
It consists of using chest compressions and artificial ventilation to maintain circulatory flow and oxygenation during cardiac arrests.
The emergency procedure, sometimes continued for as long as 45 minutes, has successfully revived many lives.
In India, statistics indicate, deaths due to sudden cardiac arrest are more than those from diabetes, road accidents, and dementia, combined.
Aggarwal said several personalities have died due to sudden cardiac arrest, including former president APJ Abdul Kalam and former Union minister Sultan Ahmed.
"It is important for every single Indian national to be trained in the technique of hands-only CPR or compression-only CPR, as this can help in saving many lives.
There is also a need to equip every healthcare setting with conventional defibrillators," he said in the letter to CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi.
A defibrillator is a device that gives a high energy electric shock to the heart through the chest wall to someone who is in cardiac arrest.
Aggarwal said films have a tremendous reach and an analysis of various movies has suggested that a large number of these movies depicted the revival method incorrectly.
"As movies and the actors therein are major role models for the society, it is fundamentally important that these simple life-saving procedures are shown correctly," he said.
Aggarwal is also the vice president of Confederation of Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania.
He advised people to follow three simple rules when they come across a victim of cardiac arrest: call the ambulance, check if the person is breathing or has a pulse if you can, and start chest compressions and continue till medical help arrives.