AEDs are designed for ease of use

3 January 2013, The New Paper

'One of the customers fell & was injured'

The Thai "woman" who collapsed at nightspot Zouk after suffering a cardiac arrest on New Year's Day is actually a man.

This was confirmed in an e-mail from Zouk to The New Paper yesterday.

He continues to fight for his life at the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Singapore General Hospital.

Dressed in women's clothes, the young man was partying with friends at the popular club on Jiak Kim Street early on New Year's Day when he collapsed, sources said.

Witnesses said the victim looked like a "very attractive woman" and had been dressed in a short-sleeved white blouse.

There was redness on his hands, neck and face when he was carried out, unconscious.

Two people were performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the unresponsive clubber when the ambulance arrived.

Singapore Civil Defence Force paramedics continued to perform CPR all the way to the hospital.

The hospital was not able to give updates on his condition "due to patient confidentiality".

Three other clubbers were also taken to the same hospital with minor injuries, a result of a possible crush within Zouk.

Partygoers were there for its star-studded New Year Countdown bash, which featured The Trouse Brothers and Australian-born singer and songwriter Emma Hewitt.

Student Rina Alias, 24, claimed there was no proper crowd control measures.

She said: "There were snaking queues outside, but there was a lack of staff members managing the traffic.

"Inside, the club was just too crowded. We saw people wasted on the floor near the bar. Clubgoers kept walking around and over (them)."

Miss Rina was ushering in the new year with six friends, all in their 20s.

One of her friends, Mr Fadhli Lee, 27, a business analyst, said: "Despite the large number of people in Zouk, they still kept allowing other clubgoers in the queue to buy tickets and enter."

Another friend, Mr Rezza Rohaizad, 24, an executive, said that when they wanted to leave after partying, they were led to a fire exit.

There they saw a group of people sitting on the granite (floor), blocking the entrance.

He said he approached one of the staff members to let them know of the obstruction.

He was told that the group was resting there after a crush.

Mr Rezza, Miss Rina and their friends did not see the crush. But as they left the club after 1am, they saw two passers-by performing CPR on the collapsed clubber outside Zouk.

No stampede

Zouk's management told The New Paper that there had been enough staff members spread evenly throughout the entire complex.

Said its head of marketing and events, Mr Timothy Chia: "During nights when we have A-list DJs and during the festive season, we operate at full strength and increase the number of security personnel by 15 per cent."

He said there was no stampede that night when guests were ushering in the New Year at the club.

"The incident occurred at a high human traffic area and staircase where there was a crowd moving in both directions.

"We had enough security personnel deployed strategically at these areas and throughout the club to manage the crowd movement.

"Unfortunately, one of the customers fell and was injured when a few others lost their balance and fell too," he said.

On why bystanders had to render CPR and not any of the staff members at Zouk, Mr Chia said: "One of our first-aiders was present and did administer first-aid support.

"This was done together with the two members of the public, who stepped forward to offer their help."

He said the club has five trained first-aiders among its staff, but it does not have any automated external defibrillators within or around Zouk.

"They have to be administered by medically trained professionals," he said.

When asked if he knows the identity of the two good Samaritans who helped perform CPR, Mr Chia said: "They were just two of our customers that night.

"This matter is under police investigation and we cannot disclose any further details."

"The incident occurred at a high human traffic area and staircase where there was a crowd moving in both directions. We had enough security personnel deployed strategically at these areas and throughout the club to manage the crowd movement."

– Zouk head of marketing and events Timothy Chia

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Reply from MOH

14 January 2013, The New Paper

AEDs are designed for ease of use

We refer to the report, “One of the customers fell & was injured” (The New Paper, Jan 3).

Mr Timothy Chia, Zouk’s head of marketing and events, was reported to have said that automated external defibrillators (AEDs) have to be administered by medically trained professionals. That is incorrect.

An AED is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses potentially life threatening abnormal patterns of heartbeats, and treats the condition through electrical therapy.

Like fire extinguishers with user instructions, AEDs provide simple audio and visual commands to guide the user, and are designed to be easy to use.

While AEDs do not need to be administered by medically trained professionals, AED training for the lay user is recommended to enable more expedient and appropriate use of the device.

The Ministries of Health and Home Affairs have been working with community groups and owners of premises to deploy more AEDs in public areas to enable bystanders to respond more effectively to emergency situations. 

Community outreach and training programmes will also be rolled out to increase public awareness and enhance capabilities in the use of these AEDs.

In addition, Singapore Civil Defence Force "995" dispatchers are now trained to deliver 'just-in-time' cardiopulmonary resuscitation instructions over the telephone.

The public is encouraged to call "995" immediately if they recognise a person is in cardiac arrest, and to work with the dispatchers to deliver continuous chest compressions as early as possible.

Bey Mui Leng (Ms)

Director Corporate Communications

Ministry of Health