Dr. Siddha SC Chakra Rao - Chairman - Indian Resuscitation Council Federation
Every year, countless lives are lost because help arrives too late. For decades, Dr. Siddha SC Chakra Rao has worked to change that reality by making lifesaving skills accessible to ordinary citizens and strengthening emergency preparedness across India. His vision has been simple, powerful and deeply practical: equip ordinary people with the knowledge and confidence to act when every second matters.
As Founder and Chairman of the Indian Resuscitation Council Federation (IRCF), Managing Director of Care Emergency Hospital, Kakinada, and a respected leader in anaesthesiology and resuscitation science, he has helped transform CPR awareness into a nationwide movement that has trained millions of people through structured resuscitation programmes and public education initiatives. His vision, “Every Citizen a Lifesaver”, continues to guide initiatives that have trained more than a million people and reached millions more through public awareness campaigns.
Dr. Siddha SC Chakra Rao’s journey in healthcare is backed by decades of clinical expertise, public health leadership, and professional service. He holds an MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) and a Diploma in Anaesthesiology (DA). He has also been awarded the Fellowships of the Indian College of Anaesthesiologists (FICA) and the Indian Medical Association Academy of Medical Specialties (FIMAAMS).
His career began in academic medicine, serving as a Tutor in Anaesthesiology at Andhra Medical College and King George Hospital, Visakhapatnam, before continuing at Rangaraya Medical College and Government General Hospital, Kakinada. Over the years, Dr. Rao took on increasingly significant responsibilities within Andhra Pradesh’s public healthcare system. He served as District Medical and Health Officer in East Godavari and Khammam districts; Regional Director of Medical and Health Services, Visakhapatnam, and later as Additional Director of Medical and Health Services, Andhra Pradesh.
Alongside his government service, he remained actively involved in professional medical organisations and healthcare development initiatives. His contributions to public health administration earned recognition for outstanding performance in implementing National Rural Health Mission programmes, receiving state-level honours in consecutive years.
Dr. Rao has also held several leadership roles in national and international medical organisations.
His long association with the Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists (ISA) saw him serve as National Secretary from 2009 to 2011 and later as National President in 2014. During this period, he introduced the Family Benevolent Fund for the nominees of deceased ISA members, an initiative designed to provide support to families within the professional community.
His involvement with global medical institutions further expanded the scope of his contributions. Dr. Rao served as a Member of the Constitutional Committee of the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) from 2016 to 2024 and was also associated with the organisation’s Ambassadors Group. In addition, he has served as Chairman of the National Standing Committee on Resuscitation and CPR under the Indian Medical Association and as a member of the Advisory Board of the Journal of Resuscitation.
Despite advances in healthcare infrastructure and medical education, CPR awareness among the general public remained limited across India. Recognising this gap, Dr. Rao began advocating for wider public access to CPR education. His vision extended beyond hospitals and medical institutions. He believed that students, teachers, volunteers and ordinary citizens should also possess the knowledge and confidence to respond during medical emergencies.
A defining chapter in Dr. Rao’s career began in 2017 with the establishment of the Indian Resuscitation Council, which later evolved into the Indian Resuscitation Council Federation (IRCF).
The initiative was created to develop resuscitation protocols suited to Indian healthcare realities and to expand CPR education across the country. Under his leadership, IRCF introduced Compression Only Life Support (COLS), Basic Cardiopulmonary Life Support (BCLS) and Comprehensive Cardiopulmonary Life Support (CCLS), creating India’s first structured framework for CPR training.
These guidelines were published in the Indian Journal of Anaesthesia and became important reference documents for healthcare professionals, trainers and institutions. Dr. Rao also contributed to publications focused on COVID-19 resuscitation protocols, emergency response systems and CPR implementation strategies. His research work has appeared in journals including the Indian Journal of Anaesthesia, Journal of Anaesthesiology Clinical Pharmacology, Journal of Paediatric Critical Care, Resuscitation Plus and the Journal of the American Heart Association. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Journal of Resuscitation.
Transforming CPR awareness into a nationwide movement required more than guidelines. It required infrastructure, training resources and sustained public engagement. To support practical training efforts, the Indian Resuscitation Council distributed 180 CPR manikins to city branches of the Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists in 2018, helping expand hands-on CPR education across the country.
That same year, India recorded one of its most significant CPR awareness milestones when approximately 250,000 people were trained on World Restart A Heart Day. The achievement attracted international attention and was reported in global scientific literature.
The movement expanded further in 2019, when nearly 500,000 students and members of the public received Compression Only Life Support training, generating awareness among more than 50 million people. The initiative earned international recognition from the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR), with India contributing 500,000 of the approximately 800,000 individuals trained globally during the campaign.
The momentum continued in subsequent years. Published IRCF statistics show that more than one million people were trained during World Restart A Heart Day initiatives in 2021, over 1.15 million in 2023, and more than 1.17 million in 2024, reinforcing India's position as one of the world's most active contributors to CPR education and awareness efforts.
CPR education also expanded through universities, schools and international collaborations, including training programmes for 2,500 students at Lovely Professional University as part of National CPR Day commemorations honouring former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
The movement also expanded through international webinars, collaborative educational programmes and partnerships involving healthcare professionals across SAARC nations. Today, CPR training initiatives associated with IRCF extend across the country, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Somnath to Manipur.
Beyond awareness campaigns, Dr. Rao has consistently advocated for integrating CPR education into mainstream learning and professional training systems.
One of the most significant developments came when the National Medical Commission incorporated Basic Life Support training into the foundation course for first-year medical students. The Indian Resuscitation Council contributed educational materials to support implementation, helping strengthen resuscitation training within medical education.
Efforts were also directed towards introducing Compression Only Life Support concepts within school-level education. Through IRCF, Dr. Rao engaged with the CBSE to facilitate the introduction of Basic Life Support training within the Class IX curriculum, reflecting his belief that lifesaving education should begin early and become part of mainstream learning.
His long-term proposals reflect an ambitious vision for India’s emergency preparedness ecosystem. These include establishing CPR training centres and resuscitation centres across the country, including along national highways in association with Stop the Bleed initiatives, creating district-level instructor networks, training ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers and school teachers, and encouraging every medical and dental college to function as a CPR training centre.
He has also advocated for wider deployment of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in railway stations, bus terminals, malls, cinema halls, commercial establishments, multi-storey buildings and other public spaces where large numbers of people gather. He has proposed integrating AED locations with digital mapping platforms to help citizens identify the nearest available device during emergencies, while also creating networks of CPR-trained volunteers who can receive emergency alerts and provide immediate assistance before medical teams arrive. He further supports dedicated green corridors for ambulances during emergencies and encourages emergency preparedness systems, trained responders and ambulance access within gated communities.
IRCF has also advocated exploring drone-assisted delivery of AEDs in India. While still in the pilot-testing stage, the concept is permitted under DGCA guidelines and has already been tested internationally for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest response.
Dr. Rao’s contributions have extended well beyond national boundaries. Over the years, he has represented India at several major international forums in anaesthesiology and resuscitation science.
His participation includes the World Congress of Anaesthesiology in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2012, where he was part of India’s engagement with the global anaesthesiology community. In 2014, he was invited by the Chinese Society of Anaesthesiologists to attend a roundtable conference in Chengdu, China, and later served as invited faculty for the Malaysian Anaesthesia Society.
He has also participated in SAARC Anaesthesia Association conferences held across the region and attended meetings of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation, including the gathering in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2019. In recognition of his contributions to CPR awareness and public education, Dr. Rao was appointed India’s representative to the ILCOR World Restart A Heart Committee in 2022. In 2025, he led a team of 14 scientists to Rotterdam during the release of the latest ILCOR guidelines, to which he was also a contributor.
These engagements helped showcase India’s resuscitation initiatives on international platforms while strengthening collaboration with global organisations working in emergency care and CPR education.
Dr. Rao’s contributions to anaesthesiology, public health administration and resuscitation education have earned recognition from medical institutions and professional organisations across India.
Among his most notable honours are the Prof. A.P. Singhal Lifetime Achievement Award from the Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists, the IMA Dr. A.K.N. Sinha National Award for distinguished service to the medical profession, and the IMA Distinguished Services Award.
His work as District Medical and Health Officer in East Godavari also earned consecutive state-level awards for outstanding implementation of National Rural Health Mission programmes. He was also awarded a Gold Medal by the Governor of Andhra Pradesh for his contribution to the membership drive of the Indian Red Cross Society. Beyond healthcare, he has also contributed to environmental initiatives, including donating ₹1 lakh towards coconut tree plantation efforts along the Kakinada beach.
In 2018, he was felicitated by the then Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu, in recognition of his contributions to CPR awareness and resuscitation education. In 2023, the medical fraternity of Kakinada honoured him with the title “CPR Man of India”, recognising his role in advancing CPR awareness and resuscitation education throughout the country.
Today, as Chairman of the Indian Resuscitation Council Federation, Dr. Rao continues to expand CPR education across India through training programmes, institutional partnerships and policy advocacy.
From helping develop India’s resuscitation guidelines to leading some of the country’s largest CPR awareness initiatives, his work has remained focused on a single objective: making lifesaving knowledge accessible to every citizen. Through that mission, he has helped build one of India’s most significant public health awareness movements.
Follow us on Google News