AN automated external defibrillator (AED) can make all the difference between life and death. To widen public access to the portable, easy-to-use lifesaving device designed to treat people experiencing sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), Shenzhen plans to install another 3,000 AEDs in residential estates, schools and newly opened Metro stations — high-traffic areas and locations where an SCA is most likely to occur, according to Shenzhen Center for Prehospital Care on Tuesday.

It takes just four minutes for brain cells to be permanently damaged due to a severe lack of oxygen in SCA cases where professional help is not immediately available, according to the center’s first responders.

If medical workers cannot arrive at the scene of such emergencies within 10 minutes, an SCA victim’s chances of survival are minimal.

An AED can recognize an abnormal heart rhythm and quickly correct it through an electric shock. It is easy to use after training, and the correct use of an AED and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)within four minutes of a cardiac event can greatly improve the effect of prehospital first aid.

Since Shenzhen began installing AEDs in public places in 2017, there had been 14,158 AEDs available for public use across the city as of Dec. 31 last year, the center said. Records showed that the AEDs had been used 168 times, bringing 49 people back to life.

A 42-year-old resident surnamed Liu is one of them. He collapsed from SCA on his way to take a nucleic acid test near his home in a residential compound March 18. Several bystanders performed CPR and used an AED to revive him before first responders arrived at the scene. He was later sent to hospital for further treatment.

“It was a miracle I survived,” Liu, who has fully recovered, said. “I would not be breathing again without the help of those Good Samaritans.”

According to Zhou Qiang, head of the center, the age of victims dying from SCA over past few years is getting younger and about 80% of the cases occur at homes and in public places.

For people who experience SCA, the success rate of emergency treatment would decrease by 10% for every minute delayed. It is therefore important to conduct timely first aid within four minutes after SCA, which is called the “golden four minutes.” If CPR and AED defibrillation is administered within those four minutes, the rescue’s success rate is about 50-70%.

To let more people learn first-aid knowledge and how to use an AED, the center has provided free regular first-aid training courses. It has also released an “AED map” covering the whole city. In case of an emergency, citizens can search the WeChat miniprogram “AED导航” to find the nearest AED location.

To dispel all doubt, the center said that civilian first-aid responders will not bear civil liability for any damage caused to victims due to voluntary emergency aid, as clarified in a local regulation on medical first aid that took effect Oct. 1, 2018.

(Li Jing)