The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has begun CPR training and health-awareness programmes across its 45 depots to help employees respond to sudden cardiac arrest and other medical emergencies. The initiative was announced as part of the ‘Restart a Heart’ observance and is being conducted in collaboration with Bengaluru’s RV College of Nursing.
Demonstrations and practical training sessions have already been held at BMTC’s HSR Layout, Shanthinagar and Koramangala depots. Drivers and conductors took part in the sessions, which focused on the basic knowledge and practical skills needed to respond before professional medical assistance arrives.
BMTC said the programme will be conducted in phases at the remaining depots. The effort places emergency-response training within the corporation’s large operational network, where drivers, conductors and other staff are regularly present in buses, depots and passenger-facing environments across the city.
The training covered how to identify the signs of cardiac arrest, perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, carry out chest compressions, seek emergency medical assistance and follow the required steps during a medical emergency. Practical demonstrations were used to explain the procedures to participating employees.
The sessions were conducted under the guidance of Dr Gajendra Singh, principal of RV College of Nursing. Three specialist teams, comprising nursing teaching staff, postgraduate nursing students and media personnel, conducted the CPR awareness and training programmes at the three depots, according to the BMTC announcement.
The programme is focused on immediate response during sudden cardiac arrest and other medical emergencies. BMTC employees who participated in the sessions were provided with an introduction to the response techniques and practical demonstrations related to CPR and chest compressions.
The initiative comes at a time when public transport operations depend not only on vehicles and infrastructure but also on the ability of frontline employees to manage unexpected situations involving staff or passengers. In this programme, however, BMTC and RV College of Nursing have described the activity specifically as employee health and emergency-preparedness training.
BMTC has not provided, in the announcement, a detailed schedule for each of the remaining depots or specified the total number of employees expected to participate. The corporation said awareness programmes would be taken up at the other depots in phases, extending the training beyond the three locations where the initial sessions were held.
