AHA Celebrates the Japan Circulation Society

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Japan Circulation Society’s special session to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of CPR worldwide and the 20^th anniversary of CPR in Japan.

This event was held as part of the 76^th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Japan Circulation Society Resuscitation Science Symposium in Fukuoka, Japan. Presentations were given by Dr. Tsuyoshi Kawamura and Dr. Katsuhiko Hiramori, who were the first cardiologists to introduce CPR education to Hyogo and Iwate prefectures in Japan.

The session closed with awards presented to both pioneers from Dr. Takeshi Kimura, Chair of the JCS ECC Committee and from Dr. Gordon Tomaselli, President of the AHA, and to the group of volunteers at the JCS. Following the session, I also gave awards to each of the following 15 AHA Volunteers from the JCS to celebrate their lifesaving work in emergency cardiovascular care:

 

Hiroshi Nonogi, MD, PhD

Hiroyuki Hanada, MD, PhD

Tetsuya Sakamoto, MD, PhD

Chokoh Genka, MD, PhD

Migaku Kikuchi, MD, PhD

Hironori Saito, MD

Hiromi Seo, MD, PhD

Shuichi Suzuki, MD, PhD

Hiroshi Takahashi, MD, PhD

Yoshiaki Tomobuchi, MD

Hiroyuki Yokoyama, MD, PhD

Nobutaka Hirai, MD

Toshikazu Funazaki, MD, PhD

Toshihiko Mayumi, MD, PhD

 

Also during my trip to Japan, Dr. Tomaselli and AHA staff Michael Hulley and I attended the 10^th Citizen Education Seminar, where approximately 700 Fukuoka citizens learned about the dangers of smoking and the importance of learning CPR.

Following this seminar, we observed 100 citizens learn Hands-Only CPR using the AHA’s CPR Anytime kit, which they were able to take home so they can pass on this lifesaving skill to their loved ones.

From the Symposium to the CPR training it was an incredibly successful trip, and I am looking forward to the advances we can make with our Japanese partners in the future.