A team of Maltese doctors representing the Malta Resuscitation Council have been declared winners of the European Resuscitation Council CPR competition for 2019 (European Resuscitation Council – ERC https://www.erc.edu ).
The Maltese team competed during this year’s ERC congress held in Ljubljana, Slovenia between the 19 th and 21 st September 2019. In the preliminary round, Malta competed against teams from eleven other European countries. Malta made it to the finals and competed against Czech Republic and Denmark. This is the second time Malta has won this prestigious competition following their success in 2017.
The MRC’s winning team included Drs Anthea Pisani, André Mercieca, Maureen Bezzina Sultana, Carl Tua and Karen Sapiano, and was coached by consultants Drs Anne Marie Camilleri Podesta` and Tanya Esposito.
Dr Karen Sapiano was one of the speakers during the congress and Dr Anne Marie Camilleri Podesta` was awarded the Fellowship of the European Resucitation Council for her contribution in cardio-pulmonary resuscitation training in Malta and internationally. The Fellowship of the European Resuscitation Council is an internationally recognised and prestigious position, confirmed by the FERC diploma, for excelling members with a deep commitment to and knowledge of resuscitation medicine.
The annual CPR competition requires National teams to perform CPR on adult and child manikins in mock scenarios and expert judges focus on all aspects of resuscitation including optimal teamwork. As well as showcasing the skills required, the competition is designed to increase public awareness on the importance of CPR, and to encourage immediate bystander CPR since this is absolutely critical if the number of lives saved is to increase.
The Malta Resuscitation council has been striving to increase awareness and training in CPR, and organises numerous basic and advanced ERC resuscitation courses, activities such as the “World Restart a Heart Day” in October, and has trained teachers and schoolchildren in CPR in schools with the ultimate aim of introducing CPR onto the National Educational curriculum for 14-year olds.