First-aid plan in schools to be expanded

The swift actions of college roommates and use of an on-campus automated external defibrillator saved the life of a 24-year-old Qiongtai Normal University student last month, signaling the success of a public welfare initiative aimed at safeguarding the health of teachers and students.

The incident occurred around 6:13 am on March 22 at a campus dormitory in Hainan province.

After a roommate noticed symptoms of cardiac arrest — including blue lips and no pulse — cardiopulmonary resuscitation was immediately administered.

An AED, one of 400 devices donated to normal universities and special education schools under a public welfare project, was deployed.

The device delivered a life-saving shock, and the student regained a heartbeat and breathing before paramedics arrived. He is now out of danger.

The successful rescue was made possible by a public welfare project launched by the Ministry of Education to enhance first-aid preparedness and response capabilities in primary and secondary schools nationwide.

With support from charitable donations, the initiative aims to promote first-aid knowledge, install lifesaving equipment and provide skills training to protect the health and safety of young students, according to a notice issued by the ministry on Tuesday.

Under the three-year initiative, AEDs will be installed in schools located in regions with limited first-aid resources.

First-aid education studios will also be set up in all districts and counties nationwide — two per district or county — each equipped with three sets of AED trainers and mannequins.

The project will be rolled out in phases.

In 2026, 11 provincial-level regions — including Beijing, Hebei, Jiangsu, Shandong, Guangdong, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan provinces — will participate.

Another 11 regions will join in 2027, with the remaining 10 coming on board in 2028.

A total of four instructors will be trained at each first-aid education studio to build a professional teaching workforce.

Provincial education authorities will organize first-aid training tailored to different school levels, ensuring that primary school students receive classroom instruction, while secondary school students gain practical skills through hands-on activities and field training.

A survey by the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases puts China's sudden cardiac death incidence at 41.84 per 100,000 — about 544,000 cases annually, or roughly 1,500 per day — with an out-of-hospital survival rate below 1 percent.

The project is guided by the ministry's basic education department and supported by a 106 million yuan ($15.4 million) donation from Chinese technology company Tencent. It is implemented by the China Teacher Development Foundation.

It aims to install 6,400 AEDs and set up more than 5,700 first-aid education studios across all 31 provincial regions.

The ministry called on local education authorities to work closely with the China Teacher Development Foundation and Tencent to ensure its effective implementation.

Priority will be given to establishing first-aid education studios in youth activity centers or larger schools to facilitate regular training.

Vice-Minister of Education Wang Jiayi underscored the importance of a collaborative effort to safeguard students' safety and promote healthy development.

He called for coordinated efforts across sectors, encouraging broader participation and the use of technology to shift safety education from knowledge transmission to practical capacity-building.

Zhang Dongyan, secretary-general of the China Teacher Development Foundation, said the project was developed after multiple rounds of research and deliberation, resulting in a comprehensive implementation plan.

She said the foundation will leverage its platform advantages and professional expertise, strengthen project management, explore effective models for campus first-aid education, and enhance communication efforts to better safeguard the lives and health of teachers and students.

Xi Dan, a senior vice-president at Tencent, said the company will use its technological strengths to connect campus first-aid resources through digital platforms, enabling a shift from occasional to on-demand emergency response and helping foster a culture in which more people are willing and able to administer first aid.

zoushuo@chinadaily.com.cn