Cape Forum\u2019s Head of Community Activation, Bernard Pieters, and his wife Petro\u2019s extensive first aid knowledge on CPR saved a woman\u2019s life in Langebaan this past weekend (Saturday, 11 October). As part of Cape Forum\u2019s commitment to community safety it has joined hands with AfriForum to offer safety training, including first aid training, to the Cape community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bernard and his wife were on the beach with family when two women got into trouble in the middle of the Langebaan Lagoon. The couple moved towards the women and immediately sprang into action to save them from drowning. It was impossible to call emergency services at that stage, as there was no cellphone signal in the area. While Bernard approached a family member, Johan Nortj\u00e9, for help, they also managed to attract the attention of a passing fishing boat. Nortj\u00e9 reached one of the women in his canoe and rescued her from the water. The passing fishing boat rescued the second woman, who was lying lifeless in the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cBy the time we reached the woman, she had already been unconscious in the water for an unknown period of time. Because the fishermen did not know how to perform CPR, I jumped on the boat and started mouth-to-mouth breathing and compressions,\u201d says Bernard.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The boat then picked up Petro, after which the couple took turns performing CPR until they could feel a pulse. Emergency services took over CPR and administered more oxygen upon arrival at the port. The woman, who was hospitalised, has since been discharged and is recovering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cWe are equally grateful that both women have fully recovered and that all the role players present kept a cool head. Everyone\u2019s contribution and first aid knowledge were critical to this successful outcome,\u201d says Bernard.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
In an effort to expand the knowledge and skills of a larger part of the Cape community, Cape Forum, in collaboration with AfriForum, will be offering first aid training to communities in the new year. This training, which are offered free of charge to the community, will equip individuals with the skills to stabilise victims in emergencies until emergency services can take over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cAs in this case, where medical help was not immediately available, Cape Forum wants to enable communities to handle a variety of medical emergencies when they are the only line of defence. With this knowledge, communities can cultivate a safe and self-reliant environment,\u201d Bernard concludes.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
More information about the training will follow soon. In the meantime, get involved with Cape Forum today and help make a difference. Send an email to info@kaapseforum.co.za<\/a> or join at www.capeforum.co.za<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cape Forum\u2019s Head of Community Activation, Bernard Pieters, and his wife Petro\u2019s extensive first aid knowledge on CPR saved a woman\u2019s life in Langebaan this past weekend (Saturday, 11 October). As part of Cape Forum\u2019s commitment to community safety it has joined hands with AfriForum to offer safety training, including first aid training, to the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":3169,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media-statements"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":21,"label":"Media Statements"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/kaapseforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/see_argief_thomas-vimare-IZ01rjX0XQA-unsplash-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"meganswart","author_link":"https:\/\/kaapseforum.co.za\/en\/author\/meganswart\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":21,"name":"Media Statements","slug":"media-statements","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":21,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":73,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0","cat_ID":21,"category_count":73,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Media Statements","category_nicename":"media-statements","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"fimg_url":"https:\/\/kaapseforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/see_argief_thomas-vimare-IZ01rjX0XQA-unsplash.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kaapseforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kaapseforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kaapseforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaapseforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaapseforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3171"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kaapseforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3174,"href":"https:\/\/kaapseforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3171\/revisions\/3174"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaapseforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kaapseforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaapseforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaapseforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}