“Many sudden deaths are avoidable and therefore must be avoided. This is the point that the State must reflect on, which has the moral, social and legal duty to put all citizens in a position to know and put into practice, when necessary, the life-saving maneuvers of first aid”. This is underlined by Mario Balzanelli, national president of Sis 118, on the eve of World First Aid Day, which this year is celebrated tomorrow.
“The life-saving maneuvers of first aid can be learned easily by anyone. Therefore, placing ourselves on a ‘high’ institutional level, the objective of reducing avoidable deaths from illness and trauma as much as possible must mean bringing this knowledge and these skills into schools, starting from the years of nursery school”, Balzanelli remarks, recalling that he was “the promoter, together with Sis 118, of the popular legislative initiative aimed at the mandatory introduction of first aid teaching in Italian schools, which started in Taranto in the first half of 2005 and which collected 93,000 signatures in six months, throughout Italy. The contents then became state law with article 1, paragraph 10 of law 107/2015. It was the first time, in the history of the Italian Republic, that a popular legislative initiative bill, pursuant to article 71 of the Italian Constitution, became law”.
But today, he continues, “it is sad, and not a little, to note that this law is still almost unimplemented by the State. The price of this failure to implement is quantified in the annual loss of countless human lives, of all ages, of which a significant part, precisely by virtue of that law if it were applied, could instead be brought back to life”. Sis 118 “will soon take action by jointly urging, also on behalf of the 93,000 signatories of the popular bill, the Ministers of Education and Health so that these faint horizons of hope and civilization dutifully see full light”.
“The enemies to be defeated, which kill at very high speed and which require knowledge, by anyone, of the life-saving maneuvers of first aid – recalls the president of Sis 118 – are sudden cardiac arrest, obstruction of the airways by a foreign body, massive external hemorrhages. Sudden cardiac arrest is a devastating scourge that in Italy kills, on average, 8 people per hour, 164 per day, at least 60,000 per year. It is a permanent massacre, which year after year, unfortunately sees the number of victims increase – he highlights – When the heart stops beating we have about 3 minutes to prevent, in conditions of oxygen deficiency, the destruction of the brain (anoxic brain damage) and, therefore, the inexorable arrival of death. Science has shown, since the 1960s, that immediate cardiac massage and defibrillation, carried out, when necessary, in the first 3-5 minutes from the onset of cardiac arrest, have significant probabilities of save human lives, in over 50% of cases.”
“Airway obstruction by a foreign body kills at least one person a week and is responsible for approximately 27% of all accidental deaths in children under 4 years of age – continues Balzanelli – Even in this case, maneuvers to clear airways from a foreign body can save the lives of victims of any age, if performed promptly and in a methodologically appropriate manner. Massive external hemorrhages are responsible for a significant share of all deaths from major trauma, at least 24,000 a year in Italy. Hemostasis maneuvers, such as direct compression techniques and the use of an arterial tourniquet, can make a decisive contribution to saving countless human lives”.
“If instead of numbers – he concludes – we saw faces and life stories, imagining that they could also belong to our dearest loved ones, we would radically change our concept of how urgent it is to promote, in every social context, in every living and working environment, the culture of first aid”.
#World #Aid #Day #Sis118 #Teaching #LifeSaving #Maneuvers #School
