A BADMINTON player became the eighth cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) survivor at the FRU badminton court in Rifle Range, Air Itam two days ago since the Penang Heart Safe Programme was launched in 2015.
According to the Penang Heart Safe Society (PHSS) chairman Datuk Dr Luah Lean Wah, the victim, 42, was saved after he had collapsed by the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED) that was installed by Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and Bukit Bendera MP Wong Hon Wai four months ago.
“The money spent on installing AEDs at high-density areas and tourism hotspots is worth it. Lives are saved.
“After knowing that there was an emergency call through his mobile phone, a public responder rushed to get the AED device from the bus stop which was about 50 metres away from the FRU building.
“A girlfriend at first performed a CPR on the shuttler before the AED was brought to the court. He is now recovering in hospital,” Dr Luah said.
The AED was donated by the Lion Club of Georgetown Central, of which coincidentally, Dr Luah is one of its members.
She also appealed to those with AEDs to make it accessible to the public.
If an AED can be used as public access defibrillator (PAD), she said PHSS would appreciate the owners for that but if not, she said they cannot be blamed because of maintenance costs and security reasons.
For instance, she said B. Braun has many AEDs and has kindly allowed the use of one AED each at the front and back gates for public access.
Dr Luah was speaking to reporters at the installation of a new AED at 1189 Food Court in Bandar Baru Air Itam. It was officiated by state Tourism and Creative Economy Committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin, who is also the Paya Terubong assemblyman there.
To know where the nearest AEDs are located, Dr Luah said the public just need to use Google Maps and type AED and the nearest locations would pop up on their mobile phone.
She said there are 160 AEDs already installed in Penang, but the figure is definitely more as others installed by companies or some establishments are not listed.
The battery of an AED can last about five years.
Yeoh said the AED that was installed at 1189 Food Court today was the 30th out of the 42 AEDs donated by Zoll Medical Corporation to PHSS last year.
The PHSS has already identified areas for the remaining AEDs to be installed in places such as the State Stadium in Batu Kawan and the old township of Bukit Mertajam.
This was the second donation by Zoll Medical Corporation. It donated five AEDs to the state when the programme started on 2nd Sept, 2015 and the state itself bought five AEDS to start the programme with a total of 10 AEDs.
“My office (Petace) started the Responsible Tourism campaign during the Covid-19 pandemic, and now that the cases have been reduced, we’re expanding this idea to include AED as part of the Responsible Tourism programme. It is a public-private partnership.
“Petace works diligently to woo tourists to Penang and since a lot of them come to Penang, we prioritised safety in the Responsible Tourism campaign.
“We want people to feel safe, for instance when they visit the popular Penang Hill.
“Just recently, we installed five AEDs at the Botanic Gardens where many people like to go. And Penang Botanic Gardens is the first ‘Heart Safe Park’ in Malaysia,” Yeoh said.
In addition, Yeoh said comprehensive guidelines on Penang Heart Safe Programme Toolkits could be found on Petace website.
The guidelines include an introduction to AEDs, what is sudden cardiac arrest, the criteria for selecting AEDs, maintenance of AEDs, and emergency response.
Meanwhile, 1189 Food Court operator Calvin Tan said he agreed to have the AED installed at his premises to play a part in community service.
“In case of any emergency, the AED will come in handy. We have a Pasar Malam here every Wednesday and it draws quite a lot of people,” Tan said.
Also present at the installation of the new AED at 1189 Food Court were PHSS members Rayson Khoo Beng Sui and Douglas Yeap.
Story and pix by K.H. Ong