Recently, the news of the death of "Internet celebrity teacher" Zhang Xuefeng has aroused the whole society's attention on topics related to sudden death. The high incidence of sudden death among young and middle-aged people has also attracted more people's attention. Cardiology outpatient clinics in many hospitals have seen a surge in the number of young patients seeking treatment recently. Most of the consultations are related to chest tightness, palpitations and other symptoms; some patients also seek medical advice related to exercise.
Professor Ge Junbo, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the Department of Cardiology at Zhongshan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, recently talked in an interview about why young people are more likely to suffer from sudden cardiac death. He said: "Why are there more sudden cardiac deaths in young people? Because between the ages of 40 and 55, we call it the vulnerable period of the heart. Unlike chronic angina in the elderly, the body will establish collateral circulation after a long period of 'pre-adaptation'. If there are unstable plaques in young people, and a sudden increase in blood pressure (such as strenuous exercise, trauma, sudden mood swings, etc.), plaque rupture will induce thrombosis, which will lead to the occurrence of malignant arrhythmias."
According to data cited by Ge Junbo, approximately 540,000 people die from sudden cardiac death in China every year. "Sudden cardiac death generally refers to the heart suddenly stopping beating and pumping blood." He explained, "But sudden cardiac death also has a prelude. After a brief precordial discomfort, ventricular tachycardia (ventricular tachycardia) and subsequent ventricular fibrillation (ventricular fibrillation) occur. This is why we call for the installation of an AED (external defibrillator)."
Although AEDs are installed in many public places, the actual usage rate is not high. On the one hand, there are very few people who have received training in the use of AEDs. On the other hand, it is also because the legal and ethical mechanisms are not yet perfect, which makes people who do good deeds have concerns.
In this regard, Ge Junbo said: "At the current stage of our country's economic development, food delivery boys are everywhere, but it is difficult to find AED training community service volunteers established with a lot of money." He suggested that the power of food delivery delivery boys or Didi drivers can be mobilized to establish a broader first aid network.
"I suggest that we can use the power of these people to train them and make AED equipment flow." Ge Junbo said, "The food delivery people, couriers or drivers who receive training can get some subsidies because they contribute the driver's delivery service time, but this has greater value to the entire society and can form an emergency network in the future."
Ge Junbo's call has also received positive response. According to the relevant person in charge of the Medical Emergency Department of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, while the government continues to promote basic configuration and secure the bottom line of public safety, it is also guiding more social forces to participate in the construction of the first aid system.
The relevant person in charge of the Shanghai Red Cross also said: "Courier boys, takeaway riders, and online ride-hailing drivers, these figures who shuttle through the city's nerve endings, are being included in the key training scope of the first aid system."
China Business News reporter learned that in December last year, the China Red Cross Foundation, Didi Charity and Shenzhen One Foundation jointly launched the "Didi Vehicle-mounted AED Volunteer Service" project, recruiting a group of online ride-hailing drivers who already hold ambulance certificates and have rescue capabilities as volunteers, and equipped their operating vehicles with vehicle-mounted AED equipment, thereby transforming the online ride-hailing volunteer service team members into mobile urban emergency rescue network nodes.
Liu Qin, a social first aid expert and director of the American Heart Association, believes that if AEDs can be "mobile", they will have great social value. Liu Qin encouraged some private cars to be equipped with AEDs: "On the one hand, vehicle-mounted AEDs will help improve the public's awareness of first aid. In addition to the car owners themselves using the equipment, it will also encourage more people to understand and learn first aid skills; on the other hand, when AEDs are temporarily unavailable in some public places, if nearby vehicles happen to be equipped with the equipment, it is possible to complete defibrillation within the golden time and improve the success rate of treatment."
