Cardiothoracic Surgeon On A Mission To Share 3 Steps For Life

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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