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Jefferson Award Winner Spreads Message Of Heart Health To San Francisco's Chinatown

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- With heart disease as America's number one killer, this week's Jefferson Award winner tries to make sure everyone gets the word on heart health.

Dr. Collin Quock teaches hands-only CPR. It's an unforgettable lesson for 11-year-old Jenny He.

"So I can help people and save their lives from heart attack," said Jenny.

Decades ago, the CPR class would have been taught only in English. But today, it's also taught in Chinese.

Quock has been spreading the word on how to prevent heart disease for nearly 40 years.

He reaches large immigrant populations like the students at Francisco Middle School.

"I was the first cardiologist in the Chinese community so I felt it was my obligation," Quock said.

San Francisco Chinatown's first cardiologist, Quock has been retired since 2008. But he's still a volunteer at heart, continuing the work he started.

Nearly 30 years ago, Quock helped launch the Chinese Cardiac Community Council, a first-of-its-kind group in the American Heart Association.

The council shows the Chinese community how to stay heart healthy.

Quock has recruited dozens of volunteers, like retired school principal Claudia Jewng,

"He thinks outside the box," said Jewng. "He always has ideas of different ways to bring health education to everybody."

The San Francisco native was the first cardiologist to bring Chinese-language CPR training programs to the city's doctors and nurses years ago.

Today, he still offers free blood pressure checks at senior centers and gives out Chinese-language medical pamphlets he helped develop.

"So we set out to not only translate but do so in a culturally-sensitive manner," said Quock, "not only to keep the sodium low, but what kinds of foods in their regular diet contain high content of sodium."

Volunteer Ivy Kam said his education campaigns save countless lives.

"He brings people together," she said. "He's the catalyst that makes things happen."

So for spreading the heart-healthy message to San Francisco's ethnic community, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Dr. Collin Quock.

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