At the same time, she revised her cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skills, a life-saving technique she first learnt when she was 10 years old.

Although she always knew that CPR could save lives, she didn't realise how important it was until she learnt some sobering facts at the refresher course.

For instance, the chances of surviving a sudden cardiac arrest outside a hospital in Singapore is less than 3 per cent. In cities like Seattle in the United States, however, the chances of survival are more than 40 per cent.

Part of this is because many people don't receive CPR when they suffer a cardiac arrest in public here. Only one in five victims receives bystander CPR here, compared to more than half the victims in the US.

'I felt that I had to share this with my friends, that a few minutes can make a big difference to someone's life,' says Ms Ong, 37, who works in the financial industry.

Hopefully, that will change soon. Last Sunday, it was reported that the management committees of 107 public buildings - including hotels, shopping centres and sports facilities - will train their staff in CPR.

Furthermore, more than 100 buildings will be equipped with an automated external defibrillator (AED) under a scheme by the National Fire and Civil Emergency Preparedness Council.

The AED is a portable device that uses electrical current to shock back to life a heart which has stopped beating.

These measures could be a first important step, as a Singapore Red Cross spokesman tells LifeStyle that CPR understanding here - like other parts of Asia-Pacific - is lower than in Western countries like the US and Canada.

In Singapore, about 30,000 people (0.75 per cent of the population) are trained in CPR yearly compared to more than 9 million (3 per cent of the population) in the US.

And most Singaporeans learn it only because their work requires them to, says Mr Abdul Rasheed Doad, who is the training director of the Singapore First Aid Training Centre (SFATC).

This includes people who are designated first-aiders for their company, or those whose work requires them to know first aid, such as gym instructors.

SFATC is one of the major training centres in Singapore with between 4,000 and 6,000 people going for their CPR courses yearly.

Individuals such as Ms Ong make up no more than 1 per cent of this figure.

Dr Benjamin Leong, an associate consultant at the emergency medicine department of National University Hospital, feels that more people should learn CPR. He adds that some members of the public here may either be too busy with their own lives, fear contact with dying people, or think that learning CPR is irrelevant to them.

Dr Leong is the main author of a local study which found that CPR is probably the most important factor in sudden cardiac arrest survival figures.

The study, conducted by the Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation and Epidemiology group - comprising members from various emergency departments in Singapore and the Singapore Civil Defence Force - covered almost 2,500 patients from 2001 to 2004.

It found that those who received this 'kiss of life' from a bystander are 3.6 times more likely to survive than those who do not get CPR.

As such, he hopes that everyone could learn it as 'you never know when you might be called upon to help someone - a total stranger or someone close to you, an elderly person or a fit young athlete'.

CPR is a crucial first step in helping someone with a cardiac arrest because when a person's heart stops pumping, the brain cells start to die within four to five minutes. The rest of the body, including the heart itself, will follow suit.

For every minute that passes, his chance of survival falls by 7 to 10 per cent. That means that after 10 to 15 minutes, there is virtually none left, says Mr Abdul.

CPR helps to artificially pump the heart, circulating blood and keeping the brain and vital organs alive while waiting for help to arrive.

'No ambulance in the world can get to a victim faster than the person who is already present when the cardiac arrest occurs. If this person is competent in CPR, the chances of survival are much better,' says Dr Leong.

How much better? According to Mr Abdul, CPR alone - even from a non-medical person - improves the chances of survival for a cardiac arrest victim to 2 to 8 per cent, if CPR is delivered within two minutes.

If CPR and defibrillation are both delivered within eight minutes, the chances for survival goes up to 20 per cent.

The final step then would be to overcome their fear of helping.

'I believe in Singapore everyone wants to help. The only problem is that in our culture, most people feel afraid, shy or not confident enough to step forward - even if they had some form of training before,' says Mr Abdul.

That, however, is unlikely to happen to Ms Ong.

'I've realised that the purpose of learning CPR isn't just for my family,' she says. 'If someone collapses out in the street somewhere, I will be able to help him too.'

chengwee@sph.com.sg

Have you ever given - or received - CPR? Share your story by e-mailing stlife@sph.com.sg