The Hindu : New Delhi News : Life-saving device a must on airlines

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 14, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Life-saving device a must on airlines

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, APRIL 13. With over 2,600 airlines from all over the world being asked to acquire defibrillators by April 12 to upgrade their emergency kit by the Federation Aviation Administration, which governs them, the incidence of passengers suffering fatal heart attacks on board is likely to decline, the Heart Care Foundation of India said today.

Noting that starting April 12, most commercial airlines must now have an automated external defibrillator equipment on board to help passengers who suffer from heart attacks, the Foundation said if the electric shock given with the defibrillator is applied within three minutes most people will survive the attack. If the procedure is delayed beyond 10 minutes even with effective cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, the survival is rare.

Noting that the FAA directive issued in April 2001 had declared that all airlines upgrade their emergency kits in three years - which ended on April 11, 2004 - the executive vice-chairman of HCFI, K.K. Aggarwal, said according to the rule all airlines staffed with at least one flight attendant must have the device. "This means that every airlines in India will now have the device available on the plane''.

Pointing out that each year over 10 lakh Indians die from cardiac arrest out of which 20 per cent die in public places and 95 per cent before reaching the hospital, HCFI also pointed out that in the United States too about 1,000 people die each year due to cardiac arrest in commercial airlines, a figure which is substantially higher than the number of deaths which occur from crashes in the airlines.

Stating that ventricular fibrillation or cardiac arrest is the single most common cause of sudden death in the affluent society, it said cardiac arrest is different from heart attack and involves stoppage of the heart due to electrical irregularities.

Meanwhile, at the Indira Gandhi International Airport a senior official pleaded ignorance about the introduction of defibrillators on any of the airlines. "It is an important aspect as any semi-trained person with a few days training can become competent enough to operate the defibrillator which has two ports that are placed on the chest and a battery pack which provides the power source to give the shock.''

Of the view that such an introduction will go a long way in preventing fatal heart attacks on flights, the official said, it would probably take some time for all the airlines to adhere to the directive.

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