A skill transfer workshop administering CPR for the community youth was conducted by the Hyderabadi Association of Australian Muslim Immigrants (HAAMI) on Saturday 10 May 2025 at the Dianella Community Centre in the Wyndham City, West of Melbourne.
The Hyderabadi Association Of Australian Muslim Immigrants (HAAMI) is an incorporated association in dedicated to promoting connection, growth, and community for people from Hyderabad (Indian) background and the wider multicultural community.
They are highly proactive in conducting noble initiatives like cleaning drives, and voluntarily serving Ramadan Iftaar parties in and around Al-Taqwa College, Melbourne Grand Mosque, Truganina.
Their website https://haami.org.au
The hands on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Training Workshop attended by over 40 participants was conducted for a couple of hours facilitating essential life-saving skills that could make all the difference in an emergency by members of the community.
Opening the workshop with recitation of Quranic on saving human life, HAAMI President, Mohammad Abdul Rashid said, “Every minute counts in a cardiac emergency — through effective CPR training, a person can double or triple a victim’s chances of survival.”
Ashraf Cheheta – an expert Neurological Surgeon specialising in the field of shoulder, elbow and wrist delivered the hands-on workshop using mannequins.
Explaining the importance of the instructions Dr Cheheta highlighted the prioritised usage of the acronym in case of an medical emergency:
D (Danger)
R (Responsiveness)
S (Send/call 000 for help)
A (Airway)
B (Breathing)
C (CPR)
D (Defibrillator)
Dr Cheheta shared a unique technique to check the conscience of a person after assessing the danger near him/her.
Sometimes, if the casualty is suffering from an Anaphylactic reaction, it could be easily solved by using the Epipen and injecting the liquid medicine from the Syringe (preferably over the thigh area).
In other cases, the responsiveness of the person can be checked by talking to them by asking them to either squeeze their hands or squeeze the trapezium bone behind their collar or just by rubbing the knuckle edges of a closed fist against the breast bone.
In the interim check and ensure by lifting the chin and looking into the airway whether the casualty is clear or not (in the case of adults only) because for Epilepsy patients their tongue may fall back or people with simple choking objects like a Chicken bone or Lego or a Coin battery can be seen/felt by a finger of the hand and removed easily by turning them in the recovery position to drain away any fluids.
Human breathing is very critical for survival and can be ascertained by placing the back of the hand or first aider’s ear near the nose of the unconscious person.
In case the person responds there is no need for CPR or Auto Defibrillator Device(AED) else Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation must be commenced immediately.
The CPR must be given by the feet of the palm overlapping on each other together by clamping both fingers on the sternum (the quickest way is to see the central bone of the chest running across the armpits.
The CPR must be in a frequency of 1 mouth-to-mouth breath : 15 chest compressions (as per the guidelines of the Australian Resuscitation Council).
An AED is used to deliver the shock to restart the rhythm of the stopped heartbeat and is automatically analyzed by the device while alerting the first aider. The CPR must be halted momentarily while applying the AED shock.
The Good Samaritan law in Victoria encourages onlookers to administer CPR on the casualty and it’s a proud moment for all the Melbournians that Australia is the third safest country in the world wherein the average is eight heart attacks per day, the survival rate is high yet.
The action time for saving a life is just 15 minutes until the arrival of an ambulance but in some cases, patients may take minutes to hours to respond depending upon their medical circumstances.
The event concluded with a vote of thanks and a promise to conduct similar session for the females next month.
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