AEDs quickly coming to aid in Chinese cities

SHENZHEN－While automated external defibrillators are still unfamiliar to many Chinese, the fast dissemination of such lifesaving devices in China's major cities is already making a difference.

On Dec 14, AEDs made headlines in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, where two people were resuscitated with the devices after suffering from sudden cardiac arrest.

In one case, a man surnamed Tu collapsed outside his workplace after experiencing blurry vision. Several passersby came to his aid by making emergency calls, performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and activating a newly installed AED. The first aid bought him precious time before the arrival of medics.

A flurry of such good news has been seen as China's large cities rush to install thousands of public-access AEDs in response to calls by health experts for more such devices in public areas.

"China's first-tier cities and several coastal provinces are on the move, and even some tourist cities in western China have taken action to install AEDs," said Yu Tao, deputy director of the emergency department at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital in Guangzhou, Guangdong's provincial capital, adding that AED deployment had accelerated since last year.

In Shenzhen, more than 3,500 government-purchased AEDs had been deployed by the end of August, while in Shanghai the number of public-access AEDs exceeded 1,600, a fourfold rise from 2016.

In Beijing, cabinets containing AEDs and emergency medicines have popped up at stations along four subway lines, and authorities have pledged to cover all rail transit stations in the capital by 2022.

Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, became the first Chinese city to legislate on the dissemination of AEDs. According to a regulation promulgated in November, apart from airports and metro stations, AEDs must also be provided in law enforcement vehicles and ships to ensure their "mobility" in the city.

"It is imperative to install AEDs and teach the Chinese public how to use them," said Wang Jingfeng, director of the cardiology department at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital.

"China has the largest number of sudden cardiac arrests in the world, and the out-of-hospital survival rate in such cases is very low."

According to a report on cardiovascular diseases in 2016, the number of sudden cardiac deaths in China each year was estimated at 540,000, equivalent to one such death every minute, while the rate of successful rescue was less than 1 percent.

Intended to be used by laypeople, AEDs can automatically diagnose the patient's heart rhythm and deliver a shock if needed. They can improve the rescue rate to 90 percent if the patient is defibrillated within four minutes.

However, making them easily accessible in a developing country like China is not easy, with the high cost being a key obstacle. According to Shenzhen's city government, a single set of AED equipment costs 20,300 yuan ($3,110), excluding the annual costs of changing the batteries and pads.

"Some public venues also feared the installation of AEDs would bring them extra responsibilities," Wang said, adding that China's public-access AEDs are still "rare" compared with Japan and the United States.

The good news is that China has set the goal of disseminating AEDs in all schools, government offices, public institutes, airports, shopping malls and cinemas, according to an action plan published in 2019. A law on medicines, hygiene and public health coming into effect in June also requires all public locations to have first aid equipment.

The public's awareness and knowledge of emergency rescue are also catching up, said Yu.

At a hospital in Guangzhou, an AED training workshop on Dec 24 attracted dozens of enthusiastic residents.

"I found such training to be essential," said a community worker surnamed Yu, testifying to the rising public recognition of AEDs. "I've heard about cases of sudden cardiac arrest, so I believe it is a skill everyone should acquire to save more lives."

Xinhua