SELANGOR government will hold a workshop in June to understand and iron out potential issues in making automated external defibrillators (AEDs) mandatory in certain areas.
State public health and environment committee chairman Jamaliah Jamaluddin said these areas included new developments and key public places such as sports venues, recreational centres, parks and places of worship.
She said the State Economic Planning Unit (Upen) had drawn up a draft using the Penang government’s guideline on AEDs as reference.
“However, we need to refine Selangor’s guideline and standardise it across all local authorities.
“Penang has only two local councils while Selangor has 12 and a higher population density.
“So the workshop, which will involve all 12 local councils, is for their representatives to give their input and to highlight their concerns and challenges.
“We want to standardise the guideline for Selangor and hope to have it ready within this year,” she said, adding that the guideline would be structured to make AEDs mandatory, rather than optional.
Jamaliah said the workshop would also explore the possibility of having AEDs in existing developments to ensure wider availability of the life-saving device.
The Bandar Utama assemblyman said in August last year that Selangor was developing a comprehensive guideline to ensure new developments were equipped with AEDs for emergency situations and wanted to make those devices mandatory in key public areas.
An AED is a portable, life-saving device used to treat sudden cardiac arrest by analysing the heart’s rhythm and delivering an electric shock to restore a normal heartbeat.
It is designed for public use to treat victims immediately before emergency services arrive, significantly increasing survival chances.
Jamaliah was speaking after marking the launch of an AED at Restoran Golden Kim Wah and witnessing a basic emergency response training programme through cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) held at a park in SS20, Petaling Jaya for a group of 30 residents.
The RM7,000 device was purchased using a joint allocation of RM5,000 from Jamaliah’s office and RM2,000 from Petaling Jaya City councillor Yip Sean Yi’s office.
The programme was organised in collaboration with SS20 Rukun Tetangga, SS20 Central Zone Residents Association (RA) and SS20 Northern Zone RA.
“I would like to encourage more RAs or resident communities that have public spaces popular for sports or recreation to have AEDs available.
“It would be ideal if sports facilities such as badminton courts have AEDs and people get trained to use them,” said Jamaliah, adding that she welcomed private companies offering corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives by contributing AEDs.
She said with heart disease being the number one killer illness in Malaysia, having knowledge of CPR and access to AEDs was important.
Yip said the SS20 resident groups agreed to have the AED installed at the popular coffeeshop to make the device accessible to the public.
