The Beijing municipal government sees the Olympic Games as a good opportunity to expand the number of first aid helpers among the general public.

 

Currently, only one in every 120 citizens in Beijing has the lifesaving skills. The ratio is expected to reach one in 80 by 2008, with about 260,000 residents being brought into the first aid program, according to Tang Qi, top official of the Beijing Emergency Medical Center, or 120 Service Center.

 

In Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, one in every 60 residents has first aid expertise, and the ratio in the United States and Singapore is higher at 1:25 and 1:16 respectively, statistics show.

 

Apart from the center, Beijing Red Cross Society (BRCS), a non-profit charity organization, is another body responsible for first aid training programs.

 

Initiated in 1998, the training sessions by the society have been enjoyed by more than 60,000 people.

 

However, on the Chinese mainland, most of the first aid training classes are only taken by employees who work in high-risk jobs.

 

In order to raise public awareness of first aid, Beijing Emergency Medical Center opened a free training project to all residents.

 

It will train 400 such people by April. The center also signed an agreement with the organizing committee of 2008 Olympic Games, offering first aid training for its volunteers.

 

The society, meanwhile, aims to train another 180,000 residents on first aid before 2008. The society is also negotiating with the traffic management and public security bureaux to provide their staff with such training.

 

(China Daily March 24, 2006)