Training for community leaders saves lives
Features | by ZFF Admin

By Cash Maghirang
Thanks to the municipality-sponsored basic life support (BLS) training for barangay (village) leaders, 81-year old Lola Sario Mistula continues to enjoy the company of her grandchildren while sitting on her favorite rocking chair.
It was during a rainy night in Barangay Lipason in Pilar, Sorsogon, when relatives of Lola Sario discovered her lying unconscious in her bathroom floor. Two barangay tanods (village watchmen) were the first to respond to the calls for help. Luckily for Lola Sario both Efren Reyes and Augusto Llabares attended the BLS training.
For several minutes while onboard a tricycle, the two performed continuous cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the grandmother. Lola Sario regained consciousness before reaching the hospital.
For Llabares, the event was extra meaningful because in 2010, he failed to save the life of a mother who accidentally fell into the river while washing clothes. Back then, he did not know how to perform CPR properly. So when he heard a BLS training will be provided in his village by the local government, he immediately signed up for the program.