A Waikato cardiothoracic surgeon’s mission to save
lives has led him to join Hato Hone St John’s Ngā Tohu
Whakaora e Toru (3
Steps for Life) programme as a volunteer
educator.
Mr Nand Kejriwal already holds many roles,
including as the visiting Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Southern
Cross Hospital, Hamilton; the Director of Surgical Training
at Waikato Hospital; the Senior Lecturer in Surgery at the
University of Auckland; and the Educational Supervisor at
the Medical Council of New Zealand.
“I’ve been
doing cardiac surgery in New Zealand for 20 years, mostly in
the Waikato,” Mr Kejriwal says.
“I still operate
at the Southern Cross Hospital but at Waikato Hospital most
of my time is committed to training, educating, and
mentoring – I lecture and supervise house surgeons for
their first two years and I also teach at the courses run by
the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. I just love
teaching.”
However, it’s the latest role with Hato
Hone St John that has most recently gained his
attention.
Mr Kejriwal found out about the 3 Steps for
Life programme after visiting the Hato
Hone St John website to find statistics on out-of-hospital
cardiac arrests for a talk he was giving about CPR to
senior citizens.
“I learnt that, for a country of
only five million, we have 2000 out-of-hospital cardiac
arrests each year and only 10 per cent survive – that
means 1800 die every year.”
It was a shocking
statistic that resonated with Mr Kejriwal.
“We have
a pandemic and… the whole country shuts down, but
something must be done about these people dying from a
cardiac arrest,” he says.
“What I learnt on the St
John website was that I could make a difference in the
community – I have slowed down a little these days so can
do this now – by becoming a 3 Steps for Life
educator.
“I applied online straight away and here I
am, now towards the end of the induction process and looking
forward to starting to teach this. My motto is, if I can
save one life, then life is worth living.”
Mr
Kejriwal has also already started sharing the 3 Steps for
Life and GoodSAM
programme with other medical associates and
organisations.
“They tell me they think it’s
great, but just didn’t know about it. This led to some
associates of mine buying a defibrillator and I’m even
thinking I might buy one and keep it in the car so if I do
come across someone arresting, I can be ready to help save a
life,” he says.
Hato Hone St John has been on
a mission to empower 10,000 people with 3 Steps for Life as
part of its “Shocktober” and Restart a Heart Day
campaigns (RHAD) this month.
Jacci Tatnell, Hato Hone
St John Head of Community Education says Shocktober has been
an absolute success since it launched at the beginning of
the month.
“It’s been all go, and we are stoked
with the tremendous effort that’s taken place over the
past few weeks.
“It’s been so good that the 3
Steps for Life team are thrilled to report they have 100
sessions booked, and we have reached our goal of training
10,000 people.
Ms Tatnell says all of this couldn’t
have been achieved without the amazing support from across
the motu, including from the Warriors Foundation and Hato
Hone St John partners; ASB, Spark and Z
Energy.
“While it’s been a collaborative effort to
promote and drive the campaign, the delivery of all this
mahi is because of our volunteer community educators,” she
says.
“A whopping 90 per cent of sessions have been
delivered by volunteers and without our volunteer workforce,
this campaign would not be possible. So from Hato Hone to
our volunteers – a big thank you to all of you for the
amazing work you
do.”
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