SHENZHEN will purchase 1,000 AEDs (automated external defibrillators) in 2018, and 5,000 AEDs will be purchased and installed in the city by 2020, the Daily Sunshine reported.

According to Shenzhen Center for Prehospital Care, the center dispatched ambulances 187,388 times and saved 157,005 patients last year. At the same time, the center completed the training of 2,985 medical workers by carrying out multi-level first-aid knowledge and skills training.

In recent years, an increasing incidence of sudden cardiac death has occurred among students and white-collar workers in Shenzhen. Statistics show that more than 91 percent of sudden cardiac deaths are caused by arrhythmia.

If defibrillation is performed immediately, within three minutes of a patient going into cardiac arrest, the success rate of saving the patient can reach 94 percent.

AED is a kind of handy cardiac defibrillator for nonmedical personnel, which can be used skillfully with a bit of training.

Shenzhen has taken the lead in China in equipping public places with AEDs. By the end of 2017, the center for prehospital care procured 500 AEDs and has so far installed AEDs in railway stations and Metro stations.

By 2020, 50,000 junior first-aid workers will have been trained to help patients with sudden cardiac arrest get more timely and effective assistance.

(Zhang Yu)