A Nation of Lifesavers, 8 Years in the Making

Summary: Find out how Singapore increased their OHCA survival rate from 15.3% to 22.2% and quadrupled the number of publicly accessible defibrillators in the span of 8 years.

Synopsis of Presentation: In 2015, Singapore Heart Foundation undertook the Save-A-Life Initiative to increase the OHCA survival rate in Singapore with the Singapore Civil Defence Force, the national firefighting, rescue and EMS provider. When the project started the national survival rate was just 15.3% with 2,300 publicly accessible defibrillators in the national AED registry. Today, the survival rate has increased to 22.2% with more than 10,000 registered AEDs. We will explain how the Save-A-Life initiative was organised and implemented, covering topics such as, how a Publicly Accessible Defibrillator programme with a community-based AED registry is run and managed in a highly urbanised environment; how to change mindsets in the community through public education, and how to leverage technology to provide rapid access to CPR and defibrillation via an active pool of trained community first responders.