Professors from several courses of the University of São Paulo participated, on November 7th, on a training at the Medical School of USP. They learned the basic notions on how to identify symptoms and signs of cardiac arrest and acute Cerebral Vascular Accident (CVA), or stroke, as an integrated part of the activities of the Kids Save Lives Brazil project, coordinated by Professors Naomi Kondo Nakagawa, Marcelo Calderaro, Maria José Carmona, Heraldo Possolo, Eduardo Vieira Motta, Ludhmila Abrahão and Pedro Wellington.
The goal of the project which, when adapted to Brazil, has included the identification of the symptoms of acute CVA, is the creation of a movement of education on cardiac arrest and strokes, so that kids and teenagers know which measures should be taken during these situations. Who offers the training are the professors of the Medical School themselves and the medical students who volunteer.
Prof. Naomi Kondo Nakagawa, coordinator of the Kids Save Lives Brazil, states the University has the duty of working in favor of the society, and one of the forms found to do so was to raise awareness of children and adolescents of the public schools of São Paulo, who “feel empowered” by the acquirement of this knowledge and, consequently, create this responsibility towards other citizens. The project focus in one public school per semester, conducting training sessions with professors and students, as about 9 years old.
“The final goal is to multiply this knowledge with the society, and that starts by sharing information with family and friends. If every single person who participated in the training sessions can share this knowledge with 10 other people, we can be sure the population will be increasingly more conscious, prepared and prevented”, concluded Porf. Naomi.
Prof. Marcelo Calderaro, also a coordinator of the project, said “one of the main goals of the project is to inform the population regarding the alert signs and recognition of the cases, besides having the necessary information on how to act and refer the person to the hospital. We know 90% of cases of cardiac arrest and CVA can be prevented with simple measures, this is the other crucial information we can and must disseminate”.
