Life-saving heart equipment must be distributed to communities nationwide to stop people dying needlessly from sudden cardiac arrests, it was urged today.
Dr Joe Galvin, consultant cardiologist at the Mater Hospital, warned action has to be taken to increase the survival rates for people who suffer Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS).
Health experts at a conference in Dublin outlined a national strategy including screening young adults, distributing defibrillation machines and training community groups to administer the urgent attention needed.
"Survival rates in Ireland are just over 1 per cent yet if a patient can be treated with a defibrillator within five minutes of the onset of the attack, survival rates can reach 50 per cent," said Dr Galvin.
More than 1,000 people attended the first national conference on SADS in Dublin City University today to hear expert speakers including Professor Carlo Napolitano from Italy and Professor William McKenna from London's Heart Hospital.
The Irish Heart Foundation and the Irish Cardiac Society organised the panel of international experts to highlight the problem after a series of shock deaths of young sportsmen.
Concern has been growing since the tragic deaths of a number of young sportspeople including the captain of the Tyrone Football team, Cormac McAnallen.
The conference audience heard that action must be taken immediately after the person suffers a sudden heart attack.
Experts estimate the cardiac arrest survival rates for Ireland runs at 1 per cent.
Dr Galvin said if a defibrillation machine was used within five-minutes a person has a 50 per cent chance of survival but if it takes longer than 10-minutes there was little chance of survival.
Dr Will Fennell, president of the Irish Heart Foundation, warned: "It is interesting to note that in a pilot programme in Seattle, Washington where extensive training, screening and necessary equipment has been provided, the survival rates from sudden cardiac arrest are now more than 30 per cent."
He added: "We must access such models and consider a similar approach."
The strategy included screening young adults through looking if there is any sign of cardiac problems in the family and asking teenagers to fill out a detailed medical survey when joining sport clubs.
Dr Galvin said a solution would be to create community-based cardiac arrest response teams, which would be equipped with automatic external defibrillation machines.
Fine Gael's Mr Billy Timmons said the major sporting organisations should be supplied with defibrillators to provide immediate treatment.
He said: "They can mean the difference between life and death. All new buildings of a given size, or which are likely to attract a certain number of people, should be required to install a defibrillator."
The Wicklow TD said there may be concerns about the insurance implications of
this strategy.
Mr Timmons said he had raised the proposal of a 'Good Samaritan' act in the Dail to cover this situation.
The strategy would also include training groups in the use of life-saving equipment including school children, gardai, coaches and schoolteachers.