The ability to save a life is the highest expression of leadership – a legacy worth building today.

In today’s fast-paced work environments, employee well-being often refers to engagement initiatives around mental health support, fitness programs, or flexible schedules. While these are crucial, there is one area that is often overlooked — life-saving skills. Among them, CPR, that is, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, stands out as a critical skill that can mean the difference between life and death. Learning this skill could give people a sense of control to not feel helpless when a situation arises. This can even lead to fortitude, self-assurance and presence of mind.

The statistics are sobering. Every year, a million people die due to Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) in India. Over 80% of these occur outside hospitals — at home, in the workplace, or on the road — and are usually witnessed by someone. When SCA strikes, the heart abruptly stops functioning, cutting off blood circulation. Brain cells begin to die after just four minutes without oxygen. The only real chance for survival is to immediately start CPR and follow it with the use of an AED (Automated External Defibrillator).

Unfortunately, in India, both CPR awareness (below 2% compared to a global median of 40%) and access to AEDs are extremely poor. This means most SCA victims never get the help they need in time.

CPR Training: For the Workplace and Beyond. Building a Culture of Social Responsibility

Training employees in CPR is more than a workplace skill — it’s a personal, community-strengthening act. A trained employee might save a colleague at the workplace, a loved one at home, or a stranger on the street.

Engagement with Purpose

Workplace CPR sessions foster engagement, trust, and camaraderie. They show employees their organization values them as people, not just professionals. This sense of empowerment goes beyond the office walls. When employees are engaged in learning life-saving skills, they feel more connected to their organization’s mission and to each other.

Moreover, when companies extend this engagement to the neighborhoods and communities around their workplaces, the impact multiplies. Organizing community CPR awareness drives, partnering with schools, colleges, and resident associations, and encouraging employees to share their knowledge at home builds a culture of collective responsibility. Such corporate involvement not only strengthens community safety but also enhances the company’s role as a socially responsible citizen. Over time, these efforts create a positive ripple effect where both employees and communities benefit, leading to stronger trust, loyalty, and goodwill.

CPR Training: A Call to Action for Indian Workplaces      

   Given the critical gap in CPR awareness in India, organizations have both an opportunity and a responsibility to act. Integrating CPR training into employee development programs is not just an investment in safety — it’s an investment in human potential and social good. By doing so, workplaces can set a new standard where life-saving skills are as valued as professional skills.

Leadership’s Role in Driving Change

Leaders hold the power to influence, inspire, and create tangible change. By:

1. Organizing CPR awareness workshops for employees and encouraging them to enable similar sessions in their residential communities.

2. Procuring and installing AEDs in the workplace, ensuring they are accessible and staff are trained to use them.

Given urban traffic challenges, having an AED on-site can mean the difference between life and death.

I can personally attest to this from my own experience with Sudden Cardiac Death. I used to live in a housing complex just opposite a large hospital. One evening, a gentleman suddenly collapsed as he was speaking.

Precious minutes were lost in confusion — people tried to wake him up, sprinkled water on his face, and then hurried to arrange a car. We carried him to the car and crossed the lane straight to the hospital emergency, without even the obstacle of traffic. Yet, it was still too late.

CPR – What to do in case of Sudden Cardiac Arrest

When Sudden Cardiac Arrest happens, the heart just stops pumping blood. Unfortunately, brain cells cannot survive for more than four minutes without oxygen. That is why immediate action is critical. So what should one do upon witnessing a sudden collapse?

Here are five simple steps, that could give the victim a chance to survive:

As you would see, it is easy to learn Hands Only CPR. While you will not be an expert after understanding the above basic steps, you will still be the only hope for survival of the victim – doing something is better than doing nothing!!

A ReBeat CPR workshop will not only teach this lifeskill, it will also give your teams the confidence to get down to performing Hands Only CPR if they were to witness a Sudden Cardiac Arrest.

So leaders – go ahead and empower your teams to use their hands to save a life!!

The ReBeat Initiative – Free Workshops to train Groups

ReBeat was founded by Balakrishnan S. after having witnessed two Sudden Cardiac Deaths, and his inability to help the victims. An engineer by training, he retired, with over 37 years of experience in leadership roles from a large Indian Corporate. He is now a Basic Life Support Instructor certified by the American Heart Association.

ReBeat’s goal is to create a CPR-aware India with easy access to AEDs. Since its inception in the last year, ReBeat has trained over 1,400 common people in Hands-Only CPR / Compression-Only Life Support, at their doorsteps at no cost.

Each participant becomes part of a growing network of capable first responders, ready to make a difference at work, home, or in public spaces.

If you would like to conduct a Workshop for your organisation, community, or your child’s school or college in Bengaluru, please write to bala.rebeat@gmail.com. Together, we can build a safer, more prepared India.

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