The Government should abolish VAT on defibrillators to help save the lives of more people who suffer heart attacks, it was claimed today.
Dropping the 21 per cent tax could slash up to €300 off the €1,500 cost of the medical devices, which deliver an electric shock to restart the heart.
Defibrillators should also become compulsory in offices, hotels, schools and sports clubs, the Sudden Cardiac Death in the Young (SCDY) support group told the Oireachtas health committee.
The SCDY group was founded in 2005 by Dublin mother Monica Martin whose teenage son Conor died of a heart attack in his bedroom.
More than 6,000 people die every year in Ireland from heart attacks, the group told the committee. Up to 100 victims are aged under 35 years.
Three in in four of all deaths happen outside of hospital settings such as in the home, the office or the car, the group claims.
Calling for greater use of defibrillators, the SCDY group's chairperson Mary Vasseghi today told the all-party committee that the chances of survival decrease each minute a heart attack victim lies waiting for an ambulance.
"The survival rate declines by up to 10 per cent for every minute a person is in cardiac arrest without defibrillation," Ms Vasseghi said.
"Thus the interval from collapse to defibrillation with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) being administered during the interval is one of the most important factors in survival from cardiac arrest."
The SCDY group also called for nationwide training schemes in CPR and defibrillators.
Ireland should introduce health screening of families with a history of heart conditions, the group added.
PA