Today is September 12, the 21st World First Aid Day.
Since its establishment, World First Aid Day has been closely related to spreading first aid knowledge & skills and promoting its importance. In recent years, sudden cardiac deaths have been frequently reported. Timely defibrillation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation with an automated external defibrillator (AED) is considered to be the most effective method to prevent sudden cardiac death. As a useful lifesaver, AEDs are so easy to carry and operate that people without any professional medical knowledge can use it skillfully with some training.
Official Launch of the Public Defibrillation Program in Suzhou
On September 10, the launch ceremony of Suzhou PAD "Golden First Aid" plan was held in Suzhou Gymnasium, on the theme "Life matters first, and first aid is always within your reach."
The ceremony was attended by many, including Li Xiting, Chairman of Mindray, Laiping Liu, Vice-President of Mindray, Qing Zhang, Secretary and Vice President of the Party Members' Group of Anhui Red Cross Society, Jun Yang, Deputy Municipal Secretary and Mayor of Suzhou City, Xiangdong Yu, Deputy Municipal Secretary and Director of the Municipal Publicity Department of Suzhou City, and Xiaodong Zhang, Deputy Mayor of Suzhou City and Director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau.
At the launch ceremony, Xiangdong Yu, Deputy Municipal Secretary and Director of the Municipal Publicity Department of Suzhou City, awarded Chairman Li an honorary certificate for assisting in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Leaders and guests launched the Suzhou PAD "Golden First Aid" plan on the stage. Then they visited the installation of AEDs in Suzhou Science Technology Museum, Suzhou Archives, Suzhou Gymnasium, Suzhou City Design Exhibition Hall, and Suzhou Women and Children Center, and observed the process of installing AEDs on special police cars and fire engines outdoors. Representatives of public security, firefighters, students, and volunteers demonstrated first-aid procedures on the spot.
AED: a "Lifesaver"
Suzhou PAD "Golden First Aid" plan aims to safeguard people's lives and the city as a whole with a better balance between public health, the economy, and society by making first-aid knowledge widespread as well as equipping and promoting the use of AEDs in public places.
In recent years, knowledge of first aid has become widespread in Suzhou. In 2017, Chairman Li Xiting donated 100 AEDs to Suzhou. So far, three people were saved by these devices at Suzhoudong Railway Station, Suzhou University, and Suzhou Hilton Hotel. This year, Suzhou Municipal Government has purchased another 400 AEDs of RMB 8 million from Mindray and planned to install at schools, community centers, stations, shopping malls, squares, and other public places after this ceremony.
In 2013, Mindray successfully developed the world-class AED, also the first China's independently-recognized product, which opened the door for Mindray to actively participate in social welfare and practice social responsibility. In 2019, Mindray launched BeneHeart C Series AEDs, creating the record first-aid speed of 8 seconds from start-up to operation. Integrated ResQNaviTM technology provides users with targeted intelligent first aid guidance. At the time of writing, Mindray Healthcare's AEDs have saved more than 50 lives.
Learning First-aid by Everyone and for Everyone
In addition to first-aid equipment, the widespread of its knowledge and skills is also essential to save the lives of cardiac arrest patients. The mentioned Suzhou citizens, who successfully saved the lives of the cardiac arrest patients, were all trained by the Red Cross. When these stories were reported, the first-aid awareness among citizens has been greatly enhanced.
The widespread of first-aid knowledge & skills also requires efforts from the whole society.
In recent years, to support the first-aid guarantee system construction in different cities, Mindray has been planning and implementing public defibrillation projects, and exploring the best practices of AED installation and maintenance. The training participation rate for AED operation is more than 50% in the US, but far less than 1% in China. To enhance the first-aid awareness & skills of masses, Mindray is actively cooperating with 120 training organizations to establish a robust training system.
"It is not enough to produce equipment, but to promote first-aid skills to enable everyone able to implement first-aid procedures on heart-attacked patients within the critical 4min when they collapse. Only when the pre-hospital first-aid awareness is rooted in everyone's mind, can saving others and saved by others get realized. This is what we are strived for. "
- Li Xiting, Chairman of Mindray