Schools lack CPR manpower and equipment

Though the government emphasizes the importance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, the reality education in schools isn`t properly done due to lack of manpower and equipment.

According to a report entitled "The State of CPR Education and Tasks for Improvement" announced Wednesday by the National Assembly Research Service, CPR education for students has become mandatory in 2014 based on the School Health Law, but the number of training professionals remains lacking.

Among 11,614 schools nationwide, just a little over half, or 63.3 percent, have exclusive CPR health teachers. The remaining schools have teachers of other majors, such as physical education teachers, athletic club instructors and sports dance instructors and outside lecturers in charge of CPR education.

Schools also face shortage of CPR tools. According to the report, 73.8 percent of all elementary schools have CPR training manikins, and the figure for junior high schools is 46.1 percent and high schools only 5.83 percent.

The National Assembly Research Service said, "For a successful CPR education in schools in grade and class units, health teachers should be dispatched or teachers in charge of health education should be equipped with stronger professionalism, while sufficient equipment should be put into place."

In Korea, where the lifestyle is increasingly becoming more Westernized, the number of patients with cardiac standstill is on the rise. An emergency can happen any time, raising the need to create an environment where people can familiarize themselves with first aid techniques, including CPR.

Cho In-shik, a National Assembly Research Service officer who wrote the report, said, "CPR education should become mandatory in the same vein as education for driver`s license acquisition and renewal is mandatory, to help the public learn first aid techniques like CPR."