MPs from both parties welcomed the prospect of more life-saving defibrillator machines being put in public places across the Island during a debate in Parliament yesterday.

Minister of Health said that more than 100 Bermudians die of heart failure each year, and more than half of these deaths are the result of sudden cardiac arrest.

She explained that the prompt treatment of these patients by people trained to use the portable defibrillator machines, which deliver an electric shock to re-start the heart, is essential.

The regulations passed by Parliament yesterday relate to the keeping and use of the $1,500 machines, which are used to deliver an electric shock to those who have gone into cardiac arrest.

Defibrillators have already been purchased by many private companies on the island and the Fire Service already uses them.

However, the regulations passed yesterday mean that they will in future be located in key public places such as the airport, government buildings and shopping centres.

Shadow Health and Family Services Minister welcomed the legislation, but questioned: ?Why did it take three years to get this simple piece of legislation done? I wonder how many people might have died as a result??

Setting out the value of having the machines, Minister of Transport shared an experience he had on an airline flight 20 years ago when a man had a heart attack, and it would have been useful to have had such a piece of equipment.

?We could have zapped him and given him a chance? said Dr. Brown, who added that he did not know whether the victim survived after being taken away by ambulance when the plane landed.