Azernews.Az

By News Centre

Minister of Health Kemal Memişoğlu attended the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Dissemination Program. Speaking there, Minister Memişoğlu stated that the AED device is a portable medical device that automatically analyzes the heart rhythm of people experiencing sudden cardiac arrest and, when necessary, delivers a life-saving electric shock, emphasizing that this device is technologically of vital importance.

Minister Memişoğlu explained that the AED guides users with voice and visual instructions and stressed that with the “Portable Automatic Shock Device Regulation,” which will come into effect on January 1, 2026, it is aimed to expand the presence of AEDs in public spaces nationwide.

Referring to Turkiye’s progress in health management over the last 20 years, Minister Memişoğlu said:

“Today, Turkiye is among the countries capable of rapid and effective intervention in the most challenging situations, from disasters to epidemics. Turkiye is no longer following the world in health but is a country that is taken as an example with its experience. Today, on top of this solid infrastructure, we are adding a technological leap. For those critical moments where seconds are vital, we are implementing the AED project developed in collaboration with ASELSAN and our domestic engineering expertise. This project represents a historic threshold in Turkiye’s health vision.

As representatives of the principle ‘Keep the human alive so that the state survives,’ we consider it our greatest duty to put technology at the service of human life. The silent revolution we achieved in health over the last quarter-century is now crowned with digitalization and domestic production. Our ‘Healthy Turkiye Century’ vision represents an approach that transforms data into knowledge, knowledge into wisdom, and wisdom into service. The Automatic Shock Devices we are introducing today act as a bridge to life, ensuring that citizens survive until our ambulance teams arrive in moments like cardiac arrest, where intervention is measured in seconds. Our domestically produced ASELSAN devices, with a user-friendly interface, Turkish voice guidance system, and ‘smart technology that directs you,’ equip citizens to become heroes of the moment. The device analyzes the rhythm and decides whether a shock is needed.

With the ‘AED Regulation’ we have prepared, within the framework of our strategic plan for 2026-2028, we will gradually increase the presence of these devices in areas with high human density, such as airports, shopping malls, and stations.”

Minister Memişoğlu emphasized that AEDs will play a life-saving role in cases such as heart attacks and cardiac arrest, highlighting that society should be capable of using these devices. He added:

“Our goal is as follows: just as our ambulances operate in strong cooperation with the public in traffic, this application strengthens the first link of the emergency health chain. We tell every citizen, ‘When the heart stops, you don’t stop.’ This is also a call for social solidarity. Our aim is to strengthen first aid awareness among citizens and turn everyone into a potential life-saver. I invite everyone to be ready to save lives and become a volunteer member of our health army. The understanding that ‘first aid saves lives’ should no longer be just a motto but a common reflex of our society.”

Minister Memişoğlu also highlighted that Turkiye’s health organization now has the capacity to reach not only its own citizens but anyone in need. “Our structure, which rapidly acts in emergencies and organizes the field, demonstrates Turkiye’s capability in this area. Especially during the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza, while the world remained silent, watching events as if in a film, Turkiye, under the decisive leadership of our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, took a historic stance. Over the last 20 years, we have written a global success story in emergency health services. The number of stations, which was 480, has now exceeded 3,500. We increased our ambulance fleet 40-fold to over 6,300. In the first 10 months of 2025, we reached 6 million citizens. Our teams, using helicopters and airplane ambulances, have intervened with more than 5,500 patients. The spirit behind all these technologies, buildings, and devices is you.”