BRS Government To Install 1,400 Defibrillators In Public Places In Hyderabad

Harish Rao said that the statistics show that 15 lakh people die of sudden cardiac arrest every year in India, with an average of 4,000 deaths per day.

After recent incidents of men succumbing to sudden cardiac arrests in Telangana, the state government on Thursday launched a programme to train one lakh people in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and placed orders for 1,400 defibrillators for the deployment in public places.

Telangana Health Minister T Harish Rao along with IT Minister KT Rama Rao launched the programme on Wednesday in association with the GVK Emergency Management Research Institute (EMRI), said an IANS report.

Harish Rao said that the statistics show that 15 lakh people die of sudden cardiac arrest every year in India, with an average of 4,000 deaths per day. He said that CPR can lower the death toll and that the World Health Organization (WHO), and many other health organisations believe that CPR can prevent 50 per cent of all fatalities.

Minister Rama Rao voiced concern over the growing number of people succumbing to cardiac arrests. He said the visuals of the incidents of a 24-year-old police constable succumbing to cardiac arrest while working out at a gym and another 19-year-old collapsing while dancing were shocking.

The minister said if people are trained in CPR, they can help save lives in such emergencies. CPR instructors will be stationed in public places such as bus and train stations, shopping malls, and government offices. Minister KTR has also announced that orders for 1,400 defibrillators (AEDs) have been placed. Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) will be deployed in public areas, he added.

A man collapsed and died while playing badminton at the Jayashankar Indoor Stadium in Lalapet in Hyderabad on Tuesday. This was the fourth such incident in Telangana in 10 days. CCTV footage of these incidents has gone viral on social media. Visuals of young men collapsing while working out in the gym, dancing during a wedding, or playing games have shocked people.

On February 25, a 19-year-old man collapsed and died while dancing at the wedding of his relative in the Nirmal district. Mutyam, a native of Maharashtra, was dancing at the wedding reception of a relative in Pardi village in Kubeer Mandal of Nirmal district. A 24-year-old police constable died of cardiac arrest while working out at a gym in Hyderabad on February 22.

(With IANS inputs)