Dubai to train public as first responders in emergencies

By 2020, Dubai aims to become the world's heart safest city by reducing the response rate to a heart attack and bringing the survival rate outside of the hospital from the current five to 65 per cent.

With the Dubai Heart Safest City project, the city - while learning from their experience - aims to break the world's benchmark set by Copenhagen and Seattle cities at a survival rate of 62 and 64 per cent, respectively.

At present, globally, the average survival rate of patients with out of hospital sudden cardiac arrest is between five and 10 per cent because every minute following the attack is crucial.

The general public will also be trained on how to spot the signs of a heart attack, give cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and give medical care until medics arrive. Defibrillators will be placed in the city at a distance of four minutes - the ideal time help needs to reach the patient and save a life.

The target is to have the patient treated with 90 minutes of the cardiac arrest - from the time of the attack to the treatment in hospital, officials told Khaleej Times.

The project is being done in collaboration with Philips that has designed the model and was announced at the Dubai Health Forum that concluded on Tuesday.

"The project is in the developmental stage. The DHA is using technology and human capital in all fields of healthcare to better patient outcomes and improve patient care. This project is of absolute importance because it has a direct impact on saving lives," said Humaid Al Qatami, Chairman of the Board and Director General of the DHA.

Dr Fahd Baslaib, Head of Cardiology at Rashid Hospital said: "Medical help needs to reach the patient within four minutes."

Currently, only 30,000 people in the city have been trained to give CPR while the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) will train and increase the number to between 100,000 to 150,000 people.

A defibrillator delivers a dose of electric current to the heart and buys the patient survival time. "Simultaneously, all ambulance officials will be notified and once the patient is in the ambulance all the data including the patient's ECG report will be transferred to the hospital which is at the closest proximity and is equipped to deal with such cases," said Dr Baslaib.

Dubai Hospital and Rashid Hospital are heart centres that deal with complicated cases on a regular basis while a database of heart patients already exists with the Dubai Police.

Dr Moin Fikree, medical director of Rashid Hospital's Trauma Centre, said: "The project will rope in all healthcare facilities in Dubai, governmental organisations like Dubai Police and Dubai Ambulance to ensure we have an end-to-end coordinated and efficient approach."

"We will use smart technology and an app which can be downloaded easily. If a person is having a sudden cardiac arrest, he or his family members can activate the emergency button on the app. Automatically, first responders, ambulance officials and nearby hospitals will get a notification so that help reaches the person in less than four minutes," he said.

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com

Asma Ali Zain

Associated with KT for 15 years. Covers health issues, Pakistan community, human interest stories as well as general topics for daily news or features.