CPR training at work: how many employees should be trained?

When a colleague collapses from sudden cardiac arrest, survival depends on what happens in the first four minutes. Ambulance response times in Indian cities make one thing clear: the first responder will almost never be a paramedic. It will be the person at the next desk or the next machine.

The maths of coverage

The question is not whether to train people, but how many. A sensible target is coverage, not a token batch: at least two trained people per shift, per floor or per work area, so that leave, transfers and attrition never leave you uncovered. In practice that usually means 10–15% of headcount in offices and a higher share on shop floors, where incidents are more likely and help is further away.

High-risk settings — chemical plants, construction sites, gyms, large cafeterias, security gates — should treat CPR training as core PPE for supervisors and first aiders, not an optional extra.

What workplace CPR training must include

• Adult CPR with hands-only and conventional technique, practised on manikins
• AED awareness, with a trainer unit if you have or plan an AED on site
• Choking, drowning and electric-shock response relevant to your workplace
• How to raise the alarm, guide the ambulance in, and hand over

A two-to-three-hour hands-on module per batch of 20–25 people is enough for general employees. Designated first aiders should take the full first aid course that includes CPR.

Keeping the skill alive

CPR quality collapses within months without practice. Schedule an annual refresher, put CPR practice into your safety week or wellness calendar, and consider short drill scenarios — a manikin, a timer, and a pretend collapse in the canteen teaches more than another slide deck.

Plan My Health delivers CPR and first aid training onsite across India, in English and Hindi, with certificates and a trained-first-aider register for HR. City pages: Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Vadodara and more.

Plan My Health delivers first aid training for employees, corporate wellness programs and occupational health centre services for companies across India — talk to our corporate health team for a proposal matched to your workforce.