THE PHILIPPINE Heart Association (PHA) Southern Mindanao Chapter launched on Friday, Feb. 27, the “CPR-Ready Barangays,” emphasizing cardiopulmonary resuscitation awareness in the community.
Dr. Erwin Ybañez, president of PHA Davao-Southern Mindanao, said the presence of specialists alone cannot address sudden cardiac arrest, so ordinary citizens or even bystanders must become lifesavers.
Cardiac arrest, he added, does not send a warning or wait for an ambulance or a cardiologist.
“When the heart suddenly stops, survival is measured not in hours but in seconds. In those seconds, the most important person is not the specialist in the hospital. It is the bystander, the teacher, the barangay health worker, the tricycle driver, the parent, the youth leader,” Ybañez said in his keynote speech, during the launch.
PHA emphasized that the first 4-6 minutes, often called the “golden time,” are critical for victim survival.
Administering prompt and proper hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation CPR on the MD SCA victim increases his or her survival rate by 10 percent.
Also, when followed with an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), a 30 percent chance of survival is guaranteed.
PHA noted that countries with widespread CPR training and AED access report significantly higher out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates.
The CPR-Ready Barangays program is part of the chapter’s 2026–2027 advocacy goals to complement Davao City’s Central 911.
PHA Davao, through initiative, will expand community-based CPR and Basic Life Support training in partnership with LGUs, schools, private institutions, and civic organizations.
“We are not just conducting seminars. We are building a culture of readiness,” Ybanez stressed.
PHA Davao vice president Jocelyn Mantilla said the program will coordinate with the city government on the priority areas in the city, but it targets to start with the Poblacion barangays, and to be replicated to far-flung barangays.
PHA said heart disease is the number one cause of mortality and morbidity in the Philippines.
Based on 2023-2024 data, 13 Filipinos die from CVDs every hour, translating to over 300 deaths per day.
