Guidelines and Regulations on Availability of Automated External Defibrillators for Commercial and Residential Properties and Public Buildings and Areas
Ministry of Home AffairsSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns whether automated external defibrillators (AEDs) should be mandatory in private and public buildings and the current guidelines regarding their availability, as raised by Mr Darryl David. Minister K Shanmugam stated that mandatory installation is currently unnecessary because many public facilities and transit hubs are already equipped with AEDs. He noted that the Save-A-Life initiative has installed AEDs at HDB lift lobbies nationwide and is exploring expansion into private condominiums. Establishments are encouraged to register their AEDs with the Singapore Heart Foundation to contribute to a national registry of publicly accessible devices. Additionally, the Singapore Civil Defence Force and Ministry of Health have issued best practice guidelines to ensure proper installation and maintenance of these devices.
Transcript
7 Mr Darryl David asked the Minister for Home Affairs whether it is mandatory for all private buildings, including commercial and residential properties, to have sufficient and easily-accessible automated external defibrillators (AEDs) onsite and, if not, why not.
8 Mr Darryl David asked the Minister for Home Affairs what are the guidelines and regulations regarding the availability of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in Government/public buildings and public areas.
Mr K Shanmugam: It is not mandatory for building owners, whether private or public entities, to install AEDs within their premises. We do not assess that there is a need to make it mandatory at this point in time.
Many buildings in Singapore are already equipped with AEDs such as schools, community centres, sports stadiums, bus interchanges, MRT stations, Singapore Armed Forces camps and Home Team facilities. Several commercial and office buildings have also installed AEDs.
Under the Save-A-Life (SAL) initiative, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) has installed AEDs at the lift lobbies of HDB blocks in all 89 constituencies, with one AED for every two HDB blocks. SCDF is looking to expand its SAL initiative beyond HDB estates to condominiums.
The SCDF is also working with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Singapore Heart Foundation (SHF) to encourage more public and private establishments to install AEDs and register their publicly-accessible AEDs with the SHF, in order to build a national registry of publicly-accessible AEDs.
SHF, in collaboration with SCDF and MOH, has also published on its website a set of best practice guidelines on the installation, registration and maintenance of AEDs.