Singapore Installs AED Plus Units in Public Housing

Christopher Barnabas, Director of ZOLL AsiaPac (2nd from right); and Teo Chee Han, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister (4th from right) pose with SCDF partners in the Save-A-Life initiative.

October 13, 2015—The Singapore Civil Defense Force (SCDF) recently installed 160 AED Plus^® units in public housing in six constituencies as part of the nation's Save-A-Life initiative, which aims to help Singaporeans respond better to sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) cases. The AEDs were installed near elevators in lobbies of high-rise buildings with a high number of elderly residents and where a number of cardiac arrest cases have occurred.

Eventually the SCDF hopes to provide about 240 more, one AED for every couple of housing blocks. There are also plans to install AEDs in public spaces around the island.

Besides providing more AED and CPR training to the public, the SCDF has also launched a mobile app to alert responders to cardiac arrest cases.

"In an emergency, for example in a cardiac arrest, if you're able to respond more quickly—that is a great advantage," said Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean. "And if you're with a friend, for example, no one can respond faster than you because you're right beside him or her. So if you're able to do something for him or her there and then, it's faster than anybody else could respond."