The Ministry of Health and Welfare is considering installing automated external defibrillators (AEDs) at more public places, including temples, to reduce fatalities from sudden cardiac arrest, a senior health official said.
The ministry was investigating the feasibility of expanding the current installation of AEDs to more public spaces, such as popular temples, community centers and junior-high and elementary schools, Department of Medical Affairs Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said.
AEDs are already installed in public venues, including transportation hubs, tourist attractions, high schools, universities, assembly sites, leisure areas that attract at least 3,000 people a day, large shopping malls, hotels and hot spring areas, Shih said.
Photo: CNA
The review came after the death on Wednesday of Canadian-Taiwanese actor and model Godfrey Gao (高以翔) in China.
Gao, 35, reportedly collapsed during production of a show and his heart stopped beating for several minutes before someone performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on him, a Zhejiang Province, China, news agency reported on Wednesday.
He was then rushed to a hospital, but doctors were unable to resuscitate him and he was officially pronounced dead, according to JetStar, his agency.
Lin Hao-yang (林皓陽), an attending physician at the Emergency Medicine Department of National Taiwan University Hospital’s Yunlin Branch, said that of the 20,000 people a year in Taiwan who experience cardiac arrest and are then taken to a hospital, only 10 percent are resuscitated.
Based on US and European studies, when someone collapses suddenly, their chance of survival can climb to more than 50 percent if CPR is performed and an AED device is used in time, he said.
The AED, a portable electronic device used to help those experiencing sudden cardiac arrest, can analyze the heart’s rhythm and, if necessary, deliver an electrical shock to help the heart re-establish an effective rhythm, Lin said.
Sudden cardiac arrest is among the leading causes of death in the US, according to the American Red Cross.
AEDs are “a ray of hope” for people who experience arrhythmia or sudden cardiac arrest at a public place, Lin said, adding that most cases are related to ventricular fibrillation, which is when the heart quivers instead of pumping due to faulty electrical activity in the ventricles.
In that condition, “the heart can no longer pump blood to vital organs, and eventually the heartbeat stops, leading to death,” Lin said.
He urged those who have received first-aid training not to hesitate to perform CPR on people who suddenly collapse, and to try to acquire an AED while calling 119 for help.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
A British man was arrested for attempting to smuggle 14.37kg of marijuana into Taiwan through Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taipei Customs said late yesterday. The man, who arrived from Bangkok at 9pm on Friday, was asked by customs officers to open his luggage during a random inspection, Taipei Customs said in a news release. The passenger, whose identity was not disclosed, refused to open his suitcase and tried to flee the restricted area. He was eventually subdued by three customs officials and an Aviation Police Bureau officer. A later search of his checked luggage uncovered 14.37kg of marijuana buds. The case was handed over
RSS