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The Philippine Heart Association (PHA) led the call for a CPR-Ready and 911-Ready Philippines during the Usapang Puso sa Puso media conference on November 4 in Quezon City. Joined by key partners including the Department of Health (DOH), Emergency 911 National Office, Philippine College of Emergency Medicine (PCEM), and the Philippine Red Cross, the event highlighted the shared mission to strengthen the country’s emergency response awareness and capacity.
The PHA and the Philippine College of Cardiology, representing 2,500 cardiovascular specialists across 27 training institutions and 15 chapters, continue to serve as both scientific leaders and community advocates. Since 2020, the PHA has trained more than 111,000 Filipinos in Basic and Advanced Life Support through schools, hospitals, workplaces, and barangays nationwide.
Central to this effort is CPR-ReadyPH, a program launched in 2015 to make CPR a household skill. Its initiatives contributed to the passage of the CPR Act of 2016 (Samboy Lim Law), requiring hands-only CPR training in schools. The PHA is also pushing for the AED Bill to ensure defibrillators are placed in public spaces, further strengthening life-saving readiness across communities.
The PHA and its partners are now aligning CPR-ReadyPH with the Unified 911 system to ensure bystanders, emergency responders, and call centers act efficiently together during cardiac emergencies. Speakers from PHA, PCEM, DOH, and the Emergency 911 National Office emphasized that collaboration, training, and a shared response system are key to saving more lives.
Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death in the Philippines, making CPR education a national priority. The PHA stresses that awareness must translate into real action: implementing CPR training in schools, workplaces, and communities. As PHA leaders noted, building a CPR-Ready nation requires collective effort — “Every trained Filipino is one heartbeat saved.”
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| PHA President Dr. Walid Amil |
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| PHA Council on CPR Chair Dr. Don Robespierre Reyes (left):”CPR-ReadyPH thrives on collaboration.” |
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| DOH-Health Emergency Management Bureau Director Dr. Bernadett Velasco |
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| From left: Gynna Gagelonia, PHA Pres. Dr. Walid Amil, PCEM Pres. Dr. Dave Dato, Dr. Don Robispierre Reyes, DOH-HEMB Dr. Bernadett Velasco, DILG Director Francis Fajardo, | Dr. Iris Garcia, and Dr. Aurora Muriel Gamponia |
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| Dr. Don Robespierre Reyes and Dr. Walid Amil in a huddle |
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| PHA President Dr. Walid Amil |
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