GEORGE TOWN: Having an automated external defibrillator (AED) on hand proved invaluable for volunteers who managed to keep a toddler alive until ambulance services arrived.
Sungai Ara Community Ambulance Committee Secretary Raminder Singh said they received a call about a one-year-old who had stopped breathing on Friday (Dec 20) and managed to arrive in time with an AED.
"We immediately dispatched our Rapid Response Motorcycle to provide assistance. The mother found the baby unresponsive, and we managed to provide CPR until the ambulance arrived.
While we cannot confirm the outcome, we hope the child is recovering," he said on Saturday (Dec 21).
Raminder Singh explained that they are a group of volunteers providing services around Penang Island when needed.
"In this case, it took the ambulance a while to arrive, and we managed to provide CPR in the meantime. We received the AED from Penang Buddhist Tzu Chi Merits Society earlier in the morning, and we used it to revive the child in the evening," he said.
Society Commissioner Datuk Khoo Boo Leong expressed his satisfaction that the AED arrived just in time to save the toddler's life.
"We sponsored the AED to Sungai Ara Community Ambulance and handed it over on Friday (December 20). They had been asking for one, and we are glad we could provide it to them. They informed us that on the same day it was handed over, it was used to save a life," he said.
Khoo highlighted the critical importance of first responders providing CPR and first aid during a medical emergency.
"An AED unit can make the difference between life and death in emergency situations," he added.
