The first aid camp on at Ravenshaw University. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Aug 12: Vivek Mohanty, a final-year commerce student at Ravenshaw University, gained first-hand knowledge of basic first-aid techniques today and now knows what to do in case of an emergency. Like Vivek, thousands of other Ravenshaw students are now equipped with skills to respond in such a situation.

First-aid techniques were taught at a two-day training camp organised at the varsity to observe three global events — International Youth Day, International Year of Forests and International Year of Volunteering.

“Usually, many people don’t know how to react in an emergency where a person needs immediate help before a doctor arrives. These situations mostly arise due to road accidents, drowning or even spread of diseases. The first-aid training camp would go a long way in reaching out to people in need,” Vivek said.

Jointly organised by the Orissa state branch of Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) and St John Ambulance, the camp aims at preparing youths to become global citizens. Ravenshaw University authorities said this unique programme was held for the first time in an Indian university where the target is to train at least 1,000 young volunteers from the varsity.

The camp would train the students for 16 hours.

“Our aim is to ensure that students excel not only in academics but also turn out to be social assets. Knowledge of first-aid techniques is essential for youngsters as well as older people,” said Sanjay Satpathy, head of commerce department and vice-chairman of Ravenshaw Youth Red Cross Unit.

According to officials of St John Ambulance, more than four lakh people die in Orissa due to lack of first-aid care. “Be it attending to or treating victims of road accidents, helping someone from drowning, cases of snakebite or a cardiac arrest, first aid can save precious lives,” said an official.

“Today, we were taught how to initiate proper steps to help a victim of cardiac arrest by following cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), which is an emergency procedure for a person whose heart has stopped or is no longer breathing until further measures are taken to restore blood circulation and breathing in a person,” said Shantanu Lenka, another student.