Al-Ahayha launches first aid awareness campaign in Jeddah

Imagine this scenario: A child swallows an object; it gets stuck in his throat and he can’t breathe anymore. A woman is nearby when the incident happens and immediately intervenes to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the child and thereby saves him. 
“Emergency first aid and CPR are essential to teach people how to save themselves and others. This was the reason why we launched the campaign ‘Paramedics for every home’. Our aim is to save people’s lives and provide them with the tools to cope during emergency situations,” said Hassan bin Mohammed Al-Zahrani, the general manager of Al-Ahayha charitable organization, during the launch of their awareness campaign at the International Medical Center in Jeddah yesterday.
Al-Ahayha charitable organization launched this national campaign to promote greater awareness of the importance of first aid, in cooperation with the Saudi Red Crescent, the Ministry of Education and Alwaleed bin Talal Foundation. This socially responsible program was initiated under the slogan “First aid training for every home”.
Al-Zahrani added that so far thousands of students have benefited from the program and many more still await training on how to cope with emergency situations. 
The campaign was launched in Rabigh and Kaliya schools in 2011 and the Saudi Red Crescent officials continued the program, successfully training 2,000 Saudi male and female students, in more than 100 schools.  
“We are currently training around 28,000 young students with the support of the Ministry of Education. We are very optimistic, and hope that by next year we will train 400,000 students and residents, with the support of the private sector,” said Al-Zahrani.
“If people know how to give first aid they can save someone’s life and ameliorate life-threatening situations, especially since we have so many road accidents, which makes knowledge of first aid all the more imperative,” said Dr. Ahmed bin Ibrahim, director of the first aid campaign.
He also revealed that Al-Ahayha organization plans to launch the same campaign in Riyadh and other regions across the Kingdom, adding, “We are very pleased that this important awareness campaign is spreading to most households, and we are very thankful for the cooperation of the Ministry of Education,” said Dr. Ibrahim. 
Ayed Mosa Al-Shimrani, a Saudi Red Crescent official, emphasized the importance of the program saying, “In many emergency situations, doctors are not immediately available, and in these situations having the knowledge and first aid skills can save someone’s life.”
Dr. Ibrahim thanked Dr. Ali Alahmed, from Alwaleed bin Talal Foundation, Ayed Mosa Al-Shimrani from the Saudi Red Crescent, Abdullah bin Ahmed Al-Sakafi, the director general of educational training in Jeddah, Dr. Walid Fitaihi, IMC’s CEO and chairman of the board of directors, for their continuous support and efforts.