AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): More than 2,000 people across Britain are set to learn life-saving skills in the form of a training program in 100 mosques in this country. This plan, implemented by the "British Islamic Medical Association" (BIMA), has been designed with the aim of reducing inequality in access to emergency training and increasing the chances of people surviving after cardiac arrest.
In these courses, participants learn skills such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), placing an unconscious person in the recovery position, using an automated external defibrillator, and appropriate reaction in choking conditions. About 500 volunteers, including health professionals and medical students, are responsible for implementing this program and training participants.
Dr. "Mohammed Khanji," a cardiologist at Barts Health NHS Trust and a professor at Queen Mary University of London, who has been active in this program for more than a decade, said this plan was launched with the aim of confronting inequality in access to training for medical emergency skills. According to him, deprived areas and areas with ethnic minority populations usually face a shortage of life-saving-related training.
The British Islamic Medical Association's "Lifesavers" program began in 2013 with the cooperation of three mosques and training about 100 people, but has now become a widespread program in Britain and other countries of the world. This year, 25 countries including Australia, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Malaysia are participating in this program.
The organizers of these courses say that choosing mosques as training locations provides the possibility of easier access for people to these skills. Dr. Khanji emphasized that this program is not only for Muslims and all individuals, regardless of religious background, can participate in it.
Referring to the importance of time in saving cardiac patients, he said, "Performing CPR quickly and using a defibrillator early can increase a person's chance of survival by two to three times." According to him, every minute of delay after cardiac arrest can reduce the patient's chance of survival by about 10 percent.
The British Islamic Medical Association has also announced that, alongside first aid training, it implements other programs such as awareness about cancer, organ donation, and health during Ramadan in Islamic centers. This institution, in cooperation with some organizations including "Islamic Relief" and the British Heart Foundation, has so far installed 57 defibrillators in mosques in this country so that they can be available to the general public in emergencies.
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