Hyderabad public spaces are not cardio responsive

Metro stations and RTC bus terminals in the city are currently ineffective in handling cardio emergencies

Hyderabad: Metro stations and RTC bus terminals in Hyderabad are currently ineffective in handling cardio emergencies. These public spaces which witness lakhs of commuters on a daily basis, need to become ‘cardio-emergency responsive’, equipped and capable to effectively handle any kind of cardiac emergency situations.

Following the Kochi Metro’s example as a cardio-emergency responsive public space, senior emergency cardiac resuscitation specialist from Hyderabad, Dr B Vijaya Rao emphasizes the urgent need for major public spaces in the city including metro and railway stations, bus terminals like JBS and MGBS, to be similarly equipped and prepared to handle cardiac emergencies.

Public spaces becoming cardio-emergency responsive requires equipping them with Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) and ensuring presence of trained personnel who can handle the equipment and perform Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) promptly to save lives during cardiac arrest.

“Administering CPR and AED within the first five to six minutes will improve chances of survival of a cardiac arrest patient by 80 percent. Why can’t our public spaces be equipped with AEDs and workers at such locations be trained to handle them and administer CPR?,” asks  Dr Vijaya Rao, the US-trained master instructor in Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) and faculty, American Heart Association.

Dr Vijaya Rao points out that almost all the public spaces including metro, railway, bus stations and airports in western countries are cardio responsive.

“Why can’t we equip our public spaces like parks, bus junctions, railway and metro stations with necessary infrastructure?.  The cost component will be negligible, considering the fact that precious lives will be saved,” he says.

What are AEDs?

The AEDs are usually placed at strategic locations where there is a large gathering like malls, multiplexes, airports, bus and railway stations, airports and even apartment complexes along with instructions in local language for use in the eventuality of a cardiac arrest.

“You don’t have to be a health care professional to operate AEDs. Anybody can operate an AED and save lives. At public spaces, AEDs come with clear-cut instructions to guide even untrained individuals on how to utilize them,” says Dr Vijaya Rao.

How to administer AEDs

The universal steps can be remembered by the pneumonic P-A-S-S.

Power on AED, and follow instructions by the AED.

Attach the Pads

Analyze the Rhythm

Shock the victim, if advised by AED.

How AEDs work?

• User turns ON the AED
• Attaches two sticky pads with sensors/ electrodes on the chest of the person in cardiac arrest.
• Electrodes send information about the person’s heart rhythm to a processor in the AED, which then analyzes the rhythm to find out whether an electric shock is needed.
• If a defibrillation shock is needed, the AED uses the voice prompts to instruct when to press a button to deliver the shock.
• In some devices, the voice prompts announce that a shock is going to be delivered and the AED delivers the shock without intervention by the user.