SCDF-Tower Transit “AED-on-Buses Programme” Launch Event – Speech by Mr Goh Pei Ming, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs & Ministry of Social and Family Development

Mr Eric Yap, Commissioner, Singapore Civil Defence Force;

Mr Lee Yong Heng, Senior Director (Operations), Tower Transit Singapore;

Mr Geoffrey Ong, Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Heart Foundation;

Ladies and Gentlemen;

1. A very good afternoon.

2. I am very happy to be here to witness today’s “AED-on-Buses” launch event at Tower Transit’s Bus Depot.

3. AEDs have proven to make a huge difference between life and death during a cardiac arrest.

4. Every minute of delay, and a victim’s chance of survival drops by 7% to 10%.

5. This is why making AEDs readily accessible, and ensuring our community is confident to use them, is vital.

6. Today’s launch will further enhance the community’s capability and capacity to respond to cardiac arrest incidents and to save lives.

7. This also contributes to SCDF’s larger effort in building a resilient society, a more resilient Singapore.

Background of “AED-on-Wheels” Programme and AED on Buses Programme

8. To strengthen community first response to Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest cases, SCDF launched the Save-A-Life Initiative, installing over 5,400 AEDs at HDB blocks and condominiums across Singapore. If you walk around your housing estates where you live and if you pay attention, you might notice there are quite a lot of AEDs now installed at various void decks, across condominiums, or even across the town centers, for example.

9. The AED-on-Wheels Programme is an expansion of this initiative.

10. Through partnerships with companies in the logistics and transport industry, a total of 543 fleet vehicles have been equipped with AEDs, and their drivers have been trained in life-saving skills to respond to emergencies.

11. Today, the “AED-on-Buses” that we are talking about is a sister programme to “AED-on-Wheels” programme. It brings the fleet of public buses and bus captains into the network of lifesavers.

12. Public buses served an average of over 3.8 million users per day last year.

13. This is the impact that companies, such as Tower Transit, are making, and imagine the kind of resilience we are able to afford to our commuters.

The Valuable Role of the AED on Buses Programme

14. Anyone can save a life by stepping forward as a Community First Responder (CFR).

15. CFRs are registered users of the myResponder App who will be alerted via the App if they are within the vicinity of cardiac arrest cases.

16. They would be prompted on the locations of the nearest AEDs, and over 140 lives have been saved by our CFRs since the start of our Save-A-Life initiative in 2015.

17. While AEDs can be typically found at HDB lift lobbies and void decks, it may be challenging for CFRs to locate an AED when assisting patients if they happen to be in a remote location.

18. Similarly, buses may ply remote locations and may also not have ready access to AEDs.

19. Therefore, with the “AED-on-Buses” programme, the bus captain or commuters can use the AEDs onboard to resuscitate a cardiac arrest victim before SCDF paramedics arrive.

20. When the myResponder app reports a cardiac arrest in areas – especially in remote places with limited AED access, the corresponding CFR can find a nearby bus fitted with AED through the app, flag it down, retrieve the AED onboard, and carry on to save a life.

21. Bus Captains play an integral role as CFRs by rendering assistance to emergencies within the community.

22. Two years ago, Tower Transit Bus Captain Shanmugam Ramasamy was driving Bus number 143 when he noticed that an elderly passenger – a regular – did not alight at his usual stop.

23. Feeling that this was unusual and being extremely alert, he went to check on the passenger and found him unconscious at his seat.

24. With the help of other passengers, Shanmugam laid the passenger on the floor to perform CPR and immediately activated the bus operations control centre to call for an ambulance.

25. Going ahead, in the same situation, Shanmugam will also be able to use the AED on board to respond even more effectively. He is a good example for all of us to learn from. I will say to Bus Captain Shanmugam, and many others, thank you very much for your alertness and helpfulness.

26. Going forward, we do need bus captains like Shanmugam, many more of them, who are alert, responsive, responsible, and trained to use the AED, to step forward and help our commuters every day.

27. This year, we are happy and honoured to have Tower Transit join us in our life-saving mission.

28. With Tower Transit as the second partner on board the “AED-on-Buses” programme, 52 more buses will be equipped with AEDs, and hopefully more in the future.

29. This brings the total number of vehicles in the AED-on-Wheels programme to 543.

30. In addition, the bus captains involved in this initiative have all been trained in lifesaving skills like CPR-AED.

31. By equipping public buses with AEDs, early defibrillation can further strengthen the chain of survival, thereby further increasing the OHCA survival rate.

32. Tower Transit will be placing AEDs on three service routes, namely 78, 79 and 98.

33. These buses ply the industrial regions and areas with a higher density of senior citizens, which are remote regions and are hard to access.

34. The AEDs installed in the buses are generously sponsored by the Singapore Heart Foundation, who is a long-standing partner of SCDF.

35. The Singapore Heart Foundation has also supported other companies in this programme, and we deeply value Singapore Heart Foundation’s ongoing partnership and commitment to this life-saving cause.

Conclusion

36. In conclusion, I would like to thank Tower Transit, and the Singapore Heart Foundation for making today’s collaboration possible.

37. Of course, I would also like to thank other valued partners – Temasek Foundation, SBS Transit, Singapore Post, Ninja Van, ComfortDelGro, Strides Premier, Grab, Tote Board for their continued support.

38. Together, we strive towards increasing the availability of AEDs across Singapore and ultimately improve the survival rate of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases, and this can include you and everyone.

39. I look forward to seeing this programme grow further with more bus and transport companies coming onboard in the future.

40. Thank you very much and have a nice day