Lifesaving AEDs slowly being taken to heart

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

Lifesaving AEDs slowly being taken to heart

06/21/2005

An AED is an automatic external defibrillator. It's a device that sends an electric shock to jump-start a stopped heart.

A year ago, restrictions on who could use an AED were lifted. You no longer need any formal medical training, as would a doctor or an emergency medical services worker, to operate an AED. Today, many airports and hotels have AEDs handy.

2005年06月20日（月曜日）付
【天声人語】

　ＡＥＤをご存じですか。自動体外式除細動器といっても、ますますわかりにくいかもしれない。乱暴にいえば、心臓が突然止まった時に、電気ショックを与えて、心臓の動きを元に戻すものだ。１年前、医師や救急救命士に限らず、だれでも使えるようになった。空港やホテルなどに置かれつつある。

Having heard there was even an AED at a sento public bathhouse in Tokyo's Ichigaya district, I went to take a look.

The defibrillator was there, sitting on a shelf by the reception desk.

"This is my way of serving the community," said Tetsuya Maeda, 37, the owner of the bathhouse.

　銭湯にもあると聞いて、東京・市谷の大星湯を訪ねた。「ＡＥＤ」のステッカーがはられ、現物はフロント横の棚にちょこんと載っていた。経営者の前田哲也さん（３７）は「地域の人たちにお役に立てればと思って」という。

The sento began offering courses on artificial respiration and emergency cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to patrons seven years ago. That's when Maeda and other young local business owners got together to talk about how they could serve their community. Maeda had CPR training and thought it would be a good idea to teach others.

Having given CPR lessons in the sento's changing room several times every year, it was a natural move for Maeda to bring an AED to his establishment.

　大星湯は７年前から人工呼吸や心臓マッサージの講習をしている。この町のために何かやれないか。若い経営者たちで話し合った時に、救命講習を受けたことのある前田さんが手を挙げた。受講生は銭湯のお客さんたちだ。年に数回、脱衣場が講習の場に変わる。ＡＥＤを置くのは自然な流れなのだ。

Between 20,000 and 30,000 people are said to suffer a cardiac arrest in or outside their homes in Japan every year.

Thanks to AEDs, two men survived their cardiac emergencies at the Aichi Expo site-one late last month and one early this month.

　自宅や路上で心停止をきたす人は年２、３万人といわれる。先月末と今月初めには、愛知万博の会場で、ＡＥＤが役に立ち、男性２人が命をとりとめた。

Hideo Mitamura, a cardiologist and deputy director of Tokyo's Saiseikai Central Hospital, said: "An AED is used before the ambulance arrives. Just as there should be a portable fire extinguisher in every home, ideally, every home should have an AED. But for the time being, the government ought to popularize the use of AEDs by requiring every koban (police box) and volunteer firemen's houses to keep one, which will bring the unit price down."

　東京都済生会中央病院副院長で、心臓病を専門にする三田村秀雄さんは「救急車が来る前に使うのがＡＥＤです。将来は消火器のように一家に１台ほしい。行政が交番や消防団員宅に置き、普及を図るべきです。そうすれば値段も下がる」という。

An AED currently costs hundreds of thousands of yen. Maeda leases one for about 7,000 yen per month, but doesn't balk at the cost.

"My place is open until midnight," he said."I am glad to be able to position it as an emergency rescue base for the community."

　買えば数十万円。レンタルしている大星湯は月約７千円の持ち出しだ。それでも前田さんは「銭湯は深夜まで開いています。救急の地域の拠点になりたい」と話している。

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 20(IHT/Asahi: June 21,2005)