State to test 5,000 Mumbai policemen for heart ailments

Data obtained from the Mumbai police shows that 78 police personnel and police officers have succumbed to heart attacks since 2014

With heart ailments on the rise among members of the Mumbai police force, the Maharashtra government is set to introduce the ‘Mumbai Police Healthy Heart Program’, under which 5,000 members of the Mumbai police will be screened for heart ailments.

The police will be provided treatment for free if their test reports are positive, said a senior official from state home department. (HT File Photo)

They will also be provided treatment for free if their test reports are positive, said a senior official from state home department.Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will launch the program on Wednesday afternoon.

Currently, the program is exclusively for members of the Mumbai police but will be extended to police personnel across Maharashtra, depending on its feasibility, said the officer.

Data obtained from the Mumbai police shows that 78 police personnel and police officers have succumbed to heart attacks since 2014. In 2014, one in four policemen succumbed to a heart attack.

The state government roped in the Asian Heart Institute, which will train 1,000 police personnel in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, commonly known as CPR.

What is CPR?

It is an emergency procedure for the person suffering cardiac arrest. It combines chest compression with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain functions until further measures are taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing.