An automated external defibrillator (AED) is seen in Xidan Subway Station in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 27, 2020. Beijing started to equip its rail transit system with AED on Tuesday. By the end of 2022, all stations of the city's rail transit will be equipped with AED. Photo: Xinhua

Beijing started to install automatic external defibrillator (AED) devices in the city's subway stations on Tuesday. By the end of 2020, AED equipment will be available in all 104 subway stations on 7 metro lines in Beijing.

According to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport and the Beijing Municipal Health Commission, the AED installation project will be conducted in three stages. The whole project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2022, and by that time AED equipment will be available at all subway stations in Beijing, and more than 80 percent of front-line subway personnel will be trained to get a Certificate for Red Cross First Aid so as to use AEDs in the right way.

The second stage will be completed by the end of 2021, covering 229 subway stations on 10 metro lines, improving the AED coverage rate in metro stations to 84 percent. The third stage will involve 65 subway stations on 5 metro lines, reaching 100 percent AED coverage in Beijing's subway stations. The first stage will include Lines No. 1, No. 2, No. 4, No. 13, Daxing Line, Daxing Airport Line, and Yanfang Line.

AEDs can automatically recognize abnormal heart rhythms and deliver shock defibrillation. In a life-threatening cardiac arrest event in a public place, the correct use of an AED and cardiopulmonary resuscitation during the "golden four minutes" for life saving can greatly improve the effect of pre-hospital first aid and achieve the purpose of saving lives and reducing injuries.

Apart from subway stations, AED devices are also available in other public spaces in Beijing, with 40 AEDs in Daxing International Airport and 69 AEDs in Beijing Capital International Airport. In addition, parks, scenic spots and shopping malls in Beijing will also get AED devices in the coming years, according to the Beijing Municipal Health Commission.

In the Report on Cardiovascular Diseases in China (2018) released by China's National Cardiovascular Center, an estimated 544,000 people die each year from sudden cardiac death (SCD) in China, and 1,490 people suffer from cardiac arrest each day, the highest in the world, with less than 1 percent being saved.