Hundreds of residents in Beijing are taking part in an initiative to improve their lifesaving skills, involving rescue treatments for burns, drowning, electric shocks and fractures.

The 10-session free first aid course is fully booked up, with 400 people taking part, Friday's China Daily reports.

The first-aid training course started in February, with classes of 40 members attending on weekends at Beijing Emergency Medical Centre, or 120 Service Centre.

"The public enthusiasm for attending the classes is unexpectedly high," said Yang Pingfen, a doctor and one of the trainers for the course.

Yang further explained the importance of training on first aid. "The first four minutes, known as critical timing, is crucial to decide the fate of any victims in accidents," Yang said.

However, the average time for an ambulance to arrive at the scene is 11 minutes.

"With the first aid skills, we are able to greatly reduce the number of fatalities (before the ambulance arrives)," she added.

Sha Jusheng, aged 70, is one of the oldest trainees. He was a rescue worker in the aftermath of the Tangshan earthquake in 1976, and he is still haunted by the sad memories there.

The destructive quake in the city of Hebei Province, about four hours drive from Beijing, claimed more than 240,000 lives, the paper said.

"We pulled many people from the debris who were still fully conscious, but sadly died several hours later because of inadequate first aid," Sha said.

He said he also wanted to take better care of his wife by learning first aid skills, because she has chronic diseases.

(China Daily March 24, 2006)