Chennai: SAGA charitable Trust organized a show by music director Deva and his troupe to raise funds for its ‘save a life, give a life initiative’ on Saturday.

Managing Trustee N. Ramakrishnan said a lot could be done to save a life in the ‘golden hour’ – the time taken for professional help to reach a patient in an emergency.

“In the unfortunate incident of a stage caving into a swimming pool in a star hotel last year, lives could perhaps have been saved if the bystanders knew basic life saving skills”, Dr. Ramakrishnan said.

SAGA Charitable Trust offers free training in first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other life saving skills through TACT Academy for Clinical Training ( Ph: 4202664 / 26218228).

Mannequins are used during the training program for participants to get a hands-on-experience on what to do during an emergency. The trust also promotes awareness on organ donation.

Social Welfare Minister Poogothai Aladi Aruna said the knowledge imparted during the training would enable people to become “social doctors” who could offer assistance till professionals stepped in. The State government would assist the trust in expanding its training program, she said.

Nalini Krishnan, Director of The Hindu, suggested that learning techniques such as the Heimlich manoeuvre would prove useful even at home. The manoeuvre is used to dislodge food or any object stuck in the windpipe, thus choking the person.

Dr. Krishnan also urged people to come forward to take the responsibility of helping people in an accident of mishap. “Don’t back away fearing a ‘police case’. Consider it a duty to help,” she said.