DNA Micro Edit: Making public health a community affair

In a first-of-its-kind initiative in India, Holy Family Hospital will soon install 50 defibrillators across Bandra that can be used to resuscitate a patient in case of a cardiac arrest.

Timing is crucial in such an event as lack of oxygen for over 10 minutes leads to permanent brain damage to the patient making a timely response to a cardiac arrest critical. This is when having access to a defibrillator can make not just a difference between life and death but also to the patient’s quality of life. Cities like Copenhagen and Seattle, who first adopted this idea, have seen the survival rates of patients who suffer from cardiac arrest in public places shoot up from 5% to 95%.

Initiatives such as these show that public health is a priority. Our public spaces need to be equipped to deal with crisis, and pilot projects such as the one in Bandra can be scaled up over a period of time. It can have a big impact in densely populated metro cities like Mumbai. The project also makes public health a community affair and encourages us to look out for each other’s well being, making lending a helping hand to those in trouble the cornerstone of the system.

Non-communicable diseases are major killers in India and the trend is likely to worsen in the coming decades. Starting early can go a long way in saving several lives. While the initiative is a landmark one in the country, the cost of a defibrillator — Rs 1 lakh per machine — can prove to be a challenge when it comes to scaling it up. It also relies heavily on community involvement and trained volunteers. Getting the local population to not just join but remain committed to the initiative will be the key.