Broken AED at Police Station Causes Public Ire 春節墾丁1攤商須急救 派出所AED竟故障

Kenting saw many tourists during the Lunar New Year vacation. On Jan. 26, a stallkeeper suffered a heart attack on Kenting Street. Passers-by ran to a nearby police station to grab the AED installed outside to help the stallkeeper, only to find that it was not working. Luckily, the stallkeeper survived after CPR was performed.

Paramedics arrive at the scene, and people lead them to a stallkeeper who had a heart attack. Passers-by had tried to save the stallkeeper's life by running to a nearby police station to grab the AED installed outside, only to find that it wasn't working.

This incident occurred on Jan. 26. A stallkeeper selling cocktails was found to be not breathing and had no pulse. Witnesses sought help from the local police station but in the end, they managed to save the stallkeeper's life by performing CPR.

Neighboring Shop Proprietor: “It's ridiculous! They need to maintain it and also make sure there are more installed around large-scale public areas.”

The stallkeeper was taken to a hospital. The police said the AED was a donation from the manufacturer and is not considered to be the police station's property. They have posted a sign saying it's not working.

Chen Hsien-feng, Captain, 4th Corps, Hengchun Precinct: “It was donated by a private company, but the company did not provide funds for related care and maintenance. That's why it wasn't working after so many years.”

Yang Chia-chun, Chairperson, Taiwan AED Education Association: “It was no longer maintained by the manufacturer, but the place where it was installed didn't remove it. It even remained registered on the list we maintain with the Ministry of Health and Welfare. That's the most dangerous part.”

The Taiwan AED Education Association said the warranty for AEDs is typically five years, and they will malfunction after five years if not maintained regularly. It said that if manufacturers don't have the money to maintain them, they can remove them or post a malfunction indication once the warranty period passes. The Kenting National Park Headquarters said there are AEDs installed by the government at either end of Kenting Street. People can also access the Ministry of Health and Welfare's map of AED locations to find out where they are.

救護車一到現場，民眾立刻指引。因為有攤商疑似心肌梗塞，想就近使用AED卻發現故障。

事情發生在26日大年初五晚上，在當地賣調酒的攤商，突然在墾丁大街沒了呼吸心跳。目擊民眾看到後求助當地派出所，也發現擺在門口的AED，準備用來救人卻發現故障，最後緊急用CPR急救。

鄰近店家認為：「太誇張，就是那個就要保養，然後到處就是可能，大型的公共場所就是要配多一點。」

攤商送醫後及時救回，但設置在派出所門口的AED故障，讓民眾無法接受。警方解釋，AED是廠商捐贈，不屬於派出所的財產，已先貼上故障標示。

恆春分局第四組組長陳憲峯表示：「由私人公司所捐贈，那放置在墾丁所內，且未提供相關的保養及維修經費，那致多年以後，未能正常使用。」

台灣AED推廣教育協會理事長楊嘉俊指出：「已經沒有廠商維護了，那設置單位也沒有把它撤除，也沒有移掉，甚至還登錄在我們衛福部單位上面的位置，這個是最危險的。」

雖然AED是私人廠商捐贈，但放在派出所又無法運轉，難免引發質疑。台灣AED推廣教育協會表示，AED設置通常保固5年，過保固又沒定期維護，就會發生類似情況，建議若設置廠商沒有預算維護，可在保固期後拆除或張貼故障標示。墾管處也提醒，墾丁大街前後都有官方設置的AED，民眾也可透過衛福部設置的AED地圖來查詢。