Shortcomings in village AED configuration should be quickly addressed to help lives win the "golden 4-minute race"
AED, also known as Automatic Extracorporeal Defibrillator, is a portable medical device that can be used by non professionals to rescue patients with cardiac arrest. In order to enhance social emergency response capabilities, since 2019, the country has continuously accelerated the coverage of AEDs, and has prioritized the allocation of AEDs in public places with high population mobility, high accident rates, relatively closed environments, or inability to access medical emergency services in a short period of time after accidents occur.
In recent years, Shanghai has gradually attached importance to the promotion and popularization of AED devices. However, we have found that in some villages, the configuration rate of AED is generally low, and there is a situation where its use and popularization are more incompatible with the local conditions. In August of this year, we conducted field research on 30 villages and 78 residential communities in Fengcheng Town, Fengxian District, and found that only 6 AED devices were installed in the entire town, located in 4 living stations and 2 temples. Among the medical staff stationed in the village, only 7 people knew how to use this device.
We propose several suggestions to address the shortcomings in AED configuration and use in rural areas:
Firstly, the high maintenance cost of AED acquisition is an important reason why current village residents are hesitant about it. We have learned that, including purchase and daily maintenance costs, a device costs about 25000 yuan. Without special funds, financial budgets, or preferential measures, communities usually do not consider purchasing it.
Therefore, we suggest that Shanghai refer to the practices of other provinces and cities, such as Hainan, Shanxi, and other provinces and cities, to include AED in village housing allocation as a practical project for people's livelihood, and gradually increase the popularization rate through government allocation of special funds; Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province has included AED procurement in the scope of centralized procurement list, effectively reducing the unit price of equipment. In addition, it is also possible to consider introducing some tax incentive policies to encourage units to purchase or charitable enterprises to donate, in order to increase the amount of AED investment.
Secondly, within the village area, both the staff and property security personnel have little understanding of AED, without discussing its operation, and some have not even heard of the equipment. In this situation, relying solely on a small number of clinic doctors cannot truly make AED a life-saving tool, which in turn reduces the willingness of village residents to allocate AED.
Suggest strengthening the training of AED operation skills and first aid knowledge. The city and district level units in charge regularly provide "delivery" training to village residents, conduct simulation exercises for village staff, ensure their proficiency and practical skills meet the standards, and enable AED and related emergency measures to truly play a role; At the same time, various promotional activities should be considered at the AED configuration point, such as playing promotional videos, distributing environmental bags and brochures printed with AED operation steps, etc., to continuously improve the awareness and recognition of AED within the village. Volunteers with medical expertise can also be invited to participate in the promotion, explain the operation methods and emergency rescue skills, and strive to make AED truly reach every resident in the village, providing the best "golden 4 minutes" for smooth rescue.
