a hearty initiative
CPR training for fire-brigade staff
As part of its Mumbai Heart Healthy city initiative, the Asian Heart Institute trained over 50 fire brigade employees in cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The Institute plans to train 5,000 Mumbaikars this year, including 1,000 police personnel. Vijay D’Silva, Asian Heart's Medical Director, said: “In developed countries, 30 per cent of the population is trained in CPR to revive a person with heart attack. CPR training is crucial for fire-fighters, often the first responders in emergency situations.”
breathing easy
Post-SARS infection trends in China
Following the SARS outbreak in 2003, China stepped up its prevention and control methods for all infectious diseases, and rates of infection have levelled off since 2009. However, better measures are needed to tackle the most common diseases and those that are rapidly increasing. A new study, conducted by researchers at Zhejiang University and published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases , reports long-term infectious disease trends in China since the SARS outbreak; it tracks 45 diseases over ten years in about 1.3 billion people.
stamp of approval
FDA okays whole slide imaging
The US Food and Drug Administration has permitted the marketing of Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution, the first whole slide imaging system that allows for review and interpretation of digital surgical pathology slides prepared from biopsied tissue. “The system enables pathologists to read tissue slides digitally in order to make diagnoses,” said Alberto Gutierrez, Director of the Office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health in the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health.