A seminar on building an emergency rescue system in work places was recently held by Hangzhou Normal University and the Zhejiang Society of Preventive Medicine, involving many experts and scholars from across the country to discuss heath of employees.

The Agreement on Firms Dealing with Employees' Sudden Cardiac Arrest was released during the seminar, proposing 10 suggestions for firms to respond to such emergencies.

It is of great significance to release the agreement as the risks of employees exposing to sudden cardiac arrest in work places are increasing, said Yang Lei, vice-president of the Zhejiang Society of Preventive Medicine.

Despite of the fact, companies and employees have showed not enough attention to the risk, as evidenced by the few AEDs installed in work places, Yang added.

The agreement suggests that firms can organize CPR trainings for employees and set up a rescue team which consists of employees.

The agreement also advises companies to install more AEDs in public and in public vehicles to ensure that the first witness is able to acquire an AED and take it to the patient within five minutes.

Since Jan 1, 2021, Hangzhou has implemented the Hangzhou Management Practices of AEDs in Public, the first legislation about AED in the nation. Since then, the number of AEDs available in public is increasing and the figure now reaches more than 3,900.

However, the number of AEDs for every 100,000 residents in Hangzhou does not exceed five, compared with 700 for the same number of people in developed countries, said Yang.

"We still have a long way to go, and need to make constant efforts to improve the awareness of firms," Yang added. 

An AED is seen at a shopping mall in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/hznews.hangzhou.com.cn]