Cardiovascular disease has been ranked as one of the top three causes of death for this country’s citizens for decades, and many of these deaths are sudden arrhythmic death, which may be due to an issue like ventricular fibrillation. In order to take advantage of the golden hour for patients, and thus increase their chance of survival, Anding District Office has taken the initiative to be the first government office (including township, city, and district offices) in southern Taiwan to pass the test for AED Facility Certification.
As part of its effort to continue promoting AED Facility Certification, on March 22, the district office held a 90-minute CPR+AED (cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillator) training class. Wu Ze-long and Zhou Sheng-yuan, instructors from the Fire Bureau’s Anding Station, and THPAA (Tainan Heart Power Advancement Association) Chairperson Xie Xie-zhi taught the class in a straightforward and easy-to-learn manner. This class allowed the attendees to actually carry out the four steps of CPR+AED, which are 1) check for responsiveness and breathing, 2) have someone else next to you (if you are not alone) call 119 for emergency medical services and then retrieve the AED device, 3) give chest compressions, and 4) use the AED (turn power on, attach electrode pads, plug in the connector, and deliver shock(s)). Benefitting from these experts’ directions and demonstrations, the district office’s employees that attended the class all passed the instructors’ certification test while the district office’s overall passing rate was 87.5%, which is much higher than the 70% required to receive AED Facility Certification.
Anding District Chief Liu Shih-Hsiung said that the AED’s directions are very easy to understand, as all a responder needs to do is turn on the power and then comply with the device’s verbal instructions. Upon witnessing a person collapse, a non-medical layperson will be able to perform CPR and within five minutes retrieve the AED device and then deliver shocks. As a result, once the ambulance arrives, the next link on the chain of survival can smoothly begin.
Contact: Anding District Office, General Affairs Section, Zhang Jing-fu, Phone: 5921116 Ext. 252