The nursing school of Hemas Hospitals, to mark International Nurses Day which fell on May 12, began a Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) project among school children in the Gampaha district.

The project, started in the vicinity of the flagship hospital in Wattala, scheduled for opening in August this year, aims to create awareness and train school children, on the benefits of and the method of administering CPR, the hospital company said. Chief Guest at the Event, Dr. Nilmini Wijesuriya said “Taking today’s demographic transition in Sri Lanka into consideration, the leading cause of death is due to cardiovascular diseases. It is very important that the younger generation today be aware of such situations and know to apply CPR on such patients.”

Sumeera Fernando, of the first batch of nurses trained at Hemas Nursing School at Ragama was upbeat about the initiative. “As student nurses we see the value of CPR and the necessity to teach and train young people so as to initiate basic life support and first aid and promote the young students as leaders of primary healthcare,” he emphasized.

The rollout of CPR by Hemas Nursing School among the schools of the district will include training and awareness sessions by experts and specialists in the field of medical care.