A Guinness World Record was set in the city on Saturday, with 28,523 students being trained in eight hours to perform hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
The attempt broke two previous records of 9,000 and 28,015 people being trained in eight hours and 24 hours respectively. The attempt also set a record in the country and entered the ‘Best of India’ record book.
Students of classes 9 to 12 from around 350 schools in the district participated in the training program, ‘Heart Beats’, held at the CIAL convention centre at Nedumbassery.
As many as 4,000 students were trained every hour in 400 teams of 10 students each. Guidance in performing CPR on mannequins was provided by 400 skilled trainers from medical colleges in the district under the overall supervision of a four-member expert team. Over 1,000 doctors and 3,000 volunteers put the event together. Justice C.K. Abdul Rahim of the Kerala High Court and Anwar Sadath, MLA, inaugurated the event.
The session was conducted by the Kochi chapter of the Indian Medical Association, district administration, Angels International Foundation, and the District Legal Services Authority to create awareness among children on performing CPR.
