Secretariat, Taipei City Government

Taipei City Fire Department (TFD) says that there had been 102 OHCA（Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest）patients who had fully recovered and able to live without getting assistance in 2015. The number has broken past record.
TFD’s timely treatments for the patients were critical. However, the “Chain of Survival”, which is the help from citizens, was equally essential. Take one of the cases for example, Mr. Chuang felt uncomfortable and fell down on the sports field while he was running. Fortunately, the school’s basketball coach noticed that, told the school staff to get AED (Automated External Defibrillator), called 119 and followed the dispatcher’s instruction to conduct CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) and used AED until the paramedics took over. The paramedic applied ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) and gave injections to the Mr Chuang. He had regained heartbeat before the ambulance arrived the hospital. Now He is completely recovered and have done a 10 km run recently. This case is a great demonstration of the “Chain of Survival”.
According to TFD, assuring the legal protection to people who use CPR on those in need is important. TFD has been educating citizens the correct way to use CPR and AED and improving the 119 line by instructing citizens on the emergency call.
Statistic shows that 58 of the 102 OHCA patients received CPR before the paramedics arrived because of the citizens followed dispatcher’s instructions. And 75 of them took electric shock from AED, which was very helpful for OHCA patients in terms of prognosis. Those brave deeds by the citizens not only saved the patients from death, but also saved the patients’ families from a tragic loss.
Since the foundation of “Golden Phoenix Emergency Medical Service Team” in 1999, TFD has been improving medical equipments, staff training, and ambulance service mechanism. TFD aims to provide the best service for the citizens, and make Taipei City one of the most livable cities.