PANAJI
The State government has now made it mandatory for housing projects with 50 and more apartment-flats to make dedicated space available and install automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) to deal with cardiac emergencies of residents.
The new rule mandating the large residential complexes to provide the facility was made via a notification issued earlier this week which tweaked the rules under the Goa Public Health Act.
"Every residential complex consisting of 50 or more flats/units shall provide space for provision of Automated External Defibrillator (AED) which shall be strategically located and easily accessible to occupants of the building," said one of the three new rules inserted via the notification.
AED’s use electric current to resuscitate a person and reestablish a heartbeat.
Interestingly, another rule that the notification inserted makes it mandatory for at least 25% of the residents of the complex to undergo certified basic first responder training.
It said, the training must include cardio-pulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillator usage besides other life-saving skills which can prove invaluable in the case of cardiac or other medical emergencies.
The training is to be provided by agencies which are certified by the government, the new rule said.
Yet another new rule inserted via the notification requires such large residential complexes to display on a notice board in a prominent place the Cardiac Standard Operating Procedures including step by step guidance on how to respond to cardiac emergencies.
This mandatory rule comes in the backdrop of rising cases of heart attacks and other cardiac related sudden deaths in Goa and more than a year after such a move was mooted by the Town and Country Planning Board.
