More migrant workers learning CPR via SCDF, MOM

Such skills can help workers at worksites, members of the public during emergencies

- Christine Tan

Seven months after learning how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), Mr Islam Mohammad Shariful used his new skills to save a fellow migrant worker's life.

Mr Shariful, a facility maintenance technician and cleaner at Westlite Tuas Avenue 2, had been alerted on Oct 16, 2023, that Mr Chandanaada Ganga Raju, 35, had suffered a cardiac arrest in his room.

He was found unconscious and frothing from the mouth. He regained consciousness after Mr Shariful, 29, applied CPR on him.

Paramedics said Mr Raju did not need to go to the hospital.

It was the first time Mr Shariful had used CPR after learning it in March 2023 at a Community Emergency Preparedness Programme conducted by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).

The Bangladeshi worker has been working at the Westlite dormitory for more than three years.

Speaking at his workplace on Oct 29, Mr Shariful said: "I was focused because I know how to do CPR. I just did my part."

More migrant workers have been trained to perform CPR and use automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in recent years, skills that could help not only workers at worksites, but also members of the public during emergencies. Some, like Mr Shariful, join SCDF's programmes.