It must be noted that the wrong application of CPR can do more harm than good. CPR procedures or techniques vary between adults, children and infants. Never apply CPR techniques meant for an adult on young children or infants as the result can be fatal.

A few months ago, I received a frantic phone call from my husband’s niece who said that her daughter was unable to breathe because of phlegm in the airways. As the young girl has a disability, she could not cough up the phlegm. The mother panicked as her daughter was beginning to change colour.

In the chaos of the moment, all I could think of was to ask her to put her daughter on the floor, pinch the girl’s nose and blow air into her mouth - something akin to blowing balloons. I asked her to observe if the chest was inflated. If not, I told her to pick up the girl and give her a few hard blows on the back. Thankfully, the girl was given enough oxygen and recovered after a stay in hospital. Prior to the incident, I had the chance to demonstrate CPR procedures to the mother during one of her visits to my house.

My hubby was initially sceptical about learning CPR but an encounter at a hospital changed his stance. He came across a distraught father who had brought in his lifeless baby. Both of us know there is no time to spare when a child has stopped breathing. It is important to breathe air into the child. It would be too late to bring the child to hospital for medical assistance. Every second counts.

All these encounters made me even more passionate about preaching the importance of this life-saving skill. My friend Mei who is a doctor sees to it that her maid is given some basic instructions on things to do in an emergency. In fact, she will be sending her maid, who helps to look after her baby, to attend a CPR course.

Life and death are usually not within our control. No amount of knowledge can prevent death but there are circumstances where something can been done instead of standing by helplessly. I know that I would have carried a much heavier burden of regret and guilt had I failed to revive my baby Vincent when he was two months old. It was through that short and simplified CPR that I got to spend another five memorable months with him. Vincent passed away at seven months old due to premature-related illness in May last year.