New Concept of First Aid was Popularized, and AED Industry will be Benefited

In China, 41 cases of sudden cardiac death may occur per 100,000 people, and the number of deaths due to cardiac arrest exceeds 545,000 per year. After 4 to 6 minutes of cardiac arrest, if the rescue resuscitation is not obtained, the patient's brain and other important human organs will be irreversibly damaged. Therefore, once the patient is found to be unresponsive and not breathing, the emergency medical service system (EMS) should be started immediately. In order to grasp the golden time of cardiac arrest rescue, automated external defibrillator (AED) is a vital medical device. At present, the popularity of AED in China is extremely low. In China, it is hard to find AED in public places, and the market space is huge.

 

AED: Core Equipment After Starting EMS

When a person has ventricular fibrillation, the electrical activity of the heart is in a severely chaotic state, and the ventricle cannot effectively pump blood; when tachycardia, the heart cannot pump enough blood also because the heart beats too fast, and this tachycardia may then develop to ventricular fibrillation. AED can effectively “correct” these symptoms through electric shock defibrillation, then help the heart restore blood supply, and thus save patients' lives.

Because AED is easy to operate and equipped with voice instructions, it is a medical device that can be used by non-professionals to rescue patients with cardiac arrest. Equipping AEDs in public places will effectively improve the success rate of on-site first aid. The Chinese government is currently actively carrying out related work, including the implementation of AED management and application, strengthening the training of first aid knowledge and skills.

AEDs are mostly equipped in public areas

 

Low Density Status is Driving China’s AED Market Growth

As early as 2006, China began to set up AEDs in public places. Yet, after 13 years, the number of AEDs per capita in China is still much lower than in the United States, Japan and other countries.

Japan is now one of the countries with the highest AED density, with about 400 AEDs per 100000 people. The number of AEDs per 100,000 people in China does not exceed one. AEDs may be found in places with the most crowds like airports and train stations in first-tier cities, but in second- and third-tier cities in China, people who have not seen AED abound.

AED per capita in China is very low

 

According to the information provided by the National Health Commission of PRC, the Chinese government will mobilize forces from all walks of life to optimize the allocation of AEDs through financial inputs, social donations, and commercial operations. Driven by the government, the demand for AEDs in the Chinese market will grow rapidly.

European and American AED Companies Dominate AED Industry

Main players of AED industry are Physio Control and Zoll from United States, and Philips from Netherland. And these three companies occupy 57.43% of the global market for AEDs. Prior to the mass production of AED developed by Mindray, China's AED market was basically monopolized by these three foreign companies.

 

 

Mindray was benefited from the AED project initiated by the Ministry of Science and Technology of PRC. After the successful development of its AED products, Mindray not only filled the gaps in China's AED technology, but also lowered the world's average AED price with a sales price of less than 3000 US dollars per unit. Currently, Mindray has ranked among the top ten in the AED industry. With the implementation of the AED popularization work of the Chinese government, its market share will increase significantly.

 

 

The Problem of Popularizing AED in China is Gradually Being Solved

Increasing the setting density of AED is an important part of the popularization of AED, but there are many problems that need to be solved to improve the success rate of on-site first aid.

To ensure that people can quickly obtain AEDs in emergency situations, in addition to configuring sufficient AEDs and setting them up reasonably, maintaining AEDs in a good condition is also important.  With the implementation of the Chinese government's AED popularization work, the problem of insufficient AED quantity and low density is gradually being solved. However, the market price of AED is more than 1500 US dollars, so keeping AEDs in a proper custody while putting no barrier for citizens to access them are both tasks for Chinese government to accomplish.

In addition to hardware facilities, helpful citizens are needed. In order to encourage citizens to actively rescue patients, the government will generally introduce related exemption laws. The Chinese government is also adopting active legislation to protect the rights and interests of rescuers, so that rescue actions can be based on law. Article 184 of the General Provisions of the Civil Law of PRC passed in 2017 stipulates that "the rescuer shall not bear civil liability for damages to the aided person caused by the voluntary implementation of the emergency rescue behavior." At the local level, Shenzhen took the lead in promulgating the “Provisions on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Rescuers in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone”. These legislative activities will further improve China's legal system and help increase the use of AEDs.