Docs pitch for life-saving devices in public places

HYDERABAD: Following a city-based doctor’s request via Twitter to install public access defibrillators (PADs) in the city, which would help in saving lives in cases of sudden cardiac ailments, minister K.T. Rama Rao on Friday responded that the possibility would be explored.

Doctors have been pitching for installation of such devices in public places as there has been a rise in sudden cardiac arrests even among the younger population. Before the patients can be rushed to a hospital, giving them cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) manually or using PADs can help save lives. The PADs require minimum training to operate and are not expensive.

In his tweets on Thursday, senior interventional cardiologist Dr Mukharjee, managing director of Pulse Heart Centre, stated that sudden cardiac arrests were becoming more common especially after the pandemic. He tweeted that such devices were installed in majority of the developed cities, and requested Rama Rao to install them at the most crowded places in Hyderabad.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Dr Mukharjee said it required only a few minutes of training to learn CPR and to operate defibrillators. “The training should take precedence. Everyone should learn it and it should be in the curriculum for all high school students. It should be made compulsory to keep defibrillators in all gated communities, gyms and public places like Metro stations, bus stops and airports” he said.

The training to learn how to operate defibrillators only takes a few minutes, and each device costs about `1.5 lakh, Dr Mukharjee said. He added that in most cities of developed countries, the devices are placed every 500 metres.

Dr Vijay Rao, faculty at the International Training Centre, Gandhi Medical College, also advocated placement of defibrillators at public places. He said their operation involves a four-step process which is remembered as PAAS — Power on, Attach pads, Analyse rhythm and Shock.

“In developed countries, the majority of the population knows how to use these devices but in India very few do. If a shock is provided through a defibrillator within a few minutes of the patient who suffers a cardiac arrest, the patient has as much as 80 per cent chance of survival,” Dr Rao said.

Dr Rao suggested that instructions to use the device could be provided in multiple languages beside the device, so that even those without training could use it when needed.