We thank Au Eong Tyen Haan for his letter (Hold CPR training in schools; April 25).

Time is of the essence when a person has a cardiac arrest. Treatment must begin as quickly as possible. It is the reason the Unit for Pre-hospital Emergency Care (Upec) put together the Dispatcher-Assisted first Responder (Dare) programme.

The 45-minute, video-guided programme teaches bystanders what they should do as a first responder in a cardiac arrest situation.

Upec has also worked with the Ministry of Education to includehands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the use of automated external defibrillators (AED) in the physical education curriculum. Primary 5 pupils are also taught to recognise the signs of cardiac arrest and what they should do in such a situation. Since last year, CPR and the use of the AED have also been introduced progressively to Secondary 1 students.

To date, more than 71,000 individuals have been trained on Dare. A roadshow on this life-saving programme will be held at the Toa Payoh Hub on Saturday. We strongly encourage the public to join us. For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/daretosaveaheart.

Jade Kua (Dr) Programme Director, Dare

Unit for Pre-hospital Emergency Care

Ministry of Health