To offer citizens a friendlier environment where life is highly valued and people can live at peace, a press conference hosted by the Department of Health (DOH) was held today at the Taipei Railway Station, with Premier Jiang Yi-huah and DOH Minister Chiu Wen-ta jointly taking part, to raise public awareness of the government's determination to promote the installation of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in public places.
"The DOH has been strongly promoting AEDs," the premier said. "The Emergency Medical Services Act amended last year and promulgated by President Ma Ying-jeou on January 16 of this year stipulates that public places should be equipped with AEDs and incorporates a Good Samaritan law—which protects people who perform emergency rescues from legal penalties—to encourage people to use the AEDs when necessary."
According to DOH statistics, heart disease is the second-leading cause of death in Taiwan, and every year around 20,000 people who have heart attacks die before arriving at the hospital, noted the premier. "If AEDs can allow a higher rate of heart attack victims to be saved, their merit will be incalculable. As the (Chinese) saying goes, 'saving a life is better than building a 7-storey pagoda.' This is something we all should do," he said.
"To save lives with AEDs, several key measures are required," Jiang said. "Firstly, the government needs to place promoting AEDs high on its agenda, enact relevant laws, appropriate sufficient funds and promote extensive installment. Secondly, businesses should participate by promoting installment at public venues such as banks, department stores and retail locales, making AEDs more accessible to those in need. Last but not least, citizens must also be taught how to operate these devices. To put AEDs to good use, the public and private sectors and general public must work together."
At today's press conference, the premier pledged to promote AEDs in public places together with representatives of eight Cabinet-level ministries and agencies, including the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Council of Agriculture, Ministry of National Defense, and Ministry of the Interior, as well as 10 businesses, including hypermarkets, department stores and shopping malls. They also chanted a slogan for this campaign. Jiang then inspected a Taiwan Railways station AED facility and had hands-on practice in operating the device.
According to the DOH, electric shocks given within one minute of cardiac arrest can re-establish an effective cardiac rhythm in up to 90 percent of patients. Since Taiwan began installing AEDs on ambulances, cardiac arrest survival rate has risen from one to five percent. Based on examples in Europe, the United States and Japan, the installation of AEDs in public areas would boost this rate to over 30 percent, the DOH projects.
On May 23, the DOH announced that eight types of public areas should be equipped with AEDs—traffic hubs; long-distance transportation vehicles; tourist attractions; schools; large gathering venues or special organizations; large leisure activity venues; large shopping areas; and hotels, public baths or hot spring resorts. These places are selected based on the principles that AEDs should be most available where there are more people; they would be more efficient; there is higher-risk activity; and they are easy to access, following other advanced countries' examples. This will help save more precious lives at the earliest opportunity, the DOH said.