Fortis Malar Hospital under its CSR initiative to provide health education and preventive health care to more than 1500 beneficiaries through Fortis CSR Foundation

Training in First Aid and Basic Life support (BLS) for Government school students

Chennai, February 6, 2019: Fortis CSR Foundation along with knowledge partner Fortis Malar Hospital seeks to provide a platform to create awareness on health issues and leverage on different channels of communication under the CSR initiative “SAVERA”. The key aim of the program is to educate and train students of Government Schools, staff members of NGO’s, social workers, Anganwadi workers and other institutes supporting the under-privileged community. Till now more than 1100 students from various schools including Government Higher Secondary School, Arumbakkam and Kanchipuram, ADW Girls Higher Secondary School, Arakonam and Presidency Girls Government Higher Secondary School along with school teachers have benefitted through this initiative.

The curriculum comprises of 2.5 hrs of First Aid and BLS training. Along with practical training, knowledge material on First Aid and BLS in Tamil and First Aid Kit is provided to each beneficiary. The purpose of the program is to design models on health information dissemination to reach the vulnerable sections of the community. Under the “SAVERA” program there are two initiatives: (a) Health Education on First Aid and BLS (b) Awareness on Health and Hygiene to the underprivileged children in the age group of 5-12 yrs.

Speaking on the initiative, Dr. Deepan, Emergency Medicine, Fortis Malar Hospital said, “As a healthcare organization, it is our responsibility to address the critical needs of the society. Emergency needs are critical and knowledge on addressing emergency need is important for community at large. However, despite the knowledge, several unanticipated disasters may occur. And knowledge of how to handle these disasters can be critical to saving lives- yourself, your family & neighbours and accidents occurring around you.”

Speaking on the initiative, Ms. Jasrita Dhir and Mr. Ajay Maharaj, Director, Fortis CSR Foundation said, “The CSR initiatives are driven by our vision, philosophy and the need of the community, with health remaining our main focus. The objective of ‘SAVERA’ program is to raise the level of basic knowledge on First Aid Response & increase number of people who can help. Eventually through training in schools and making First Aid/BLS training part of the curriculum, Fortis Malar Hospital along with Fortis CSR Foundation will create pool of volunteers in Tamil Nadu, who will be equipped with the knowledge to ‘try’ and save lives. CSR foundation also promotes awareness and educational programmes on preventive care and training people on several health related problems including emergency care”.

The course curriculum of First Aid and Basic Life support includes dealing with an emergency; unresponsive – breathing; unresponsive – not breathing (cardiopulmonary resuscitation – CPR); Nose bleeding; cut & wounds; choking; broken bones, strains and sprains. In the second phase of the CSR initiative, the program will focus on providing health education and preventive healthcare on First Aid and BLS initiative to the staff of NGO’s, children home, orphanages and many such need-based organisations, as they have the capacity to address the critical need of the beneficiaries they are supporting.