GEORGE TOWN – A hawker here has gone out of his way to encourage his fellow street food vendors at the Air Itam market to learn how to use automated external defibrillators (AED) by offering them a lifelong offer of a free bowl of laksa.
Preferring to remain anonymous, the hawker told St John Ambulance northern region council member Dr T.C. Lee of the offer, who then relayed it to The Vibes.
Dr Lee said any hawker there who uses an AED to save a customer from a heart attack at the market would receive a lifelong offer of free laksa.
“I think it is an honourable effort to teach others to use AEDs to save those who suffer from sudden cardiac arrests.”
An AED was installed today at the market by state tourism exco Yeoh Soon Hin and Air Itam assemblyman Joseph Ng Soon Siang.
The St John outfit also attended the event to support the Penang Heart Safe organisation, headed by Datuk Dr Luah Lean Wah, and to help train hawkers in the area to use the AED in the event of a heart-related emergency.
Luah is leading a campaign with the state government to install as many AED devices as possible in strategic locations around Penang.
The state is believed to have the most AED devices installed nationwide.
Ng said that ideally, the hawkers here would not only be well-equipped to serve tasty Penang food, but to administer AED treatment to those suffering heart attacks.
He also said that he hopes more volunteers will learn how to use the device.
Since the installation of AEDs in Penang began several years ago, seven lives here have been officially saved by the user-friendly devices.
It is designed to analyse heart rhythm and deliver an electric shock to victims of ventricular fibrillation to restore the rhythm to normal. – The Vibes, January 11, 2022
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