It is good to know that there will be one automated external defibrillator (AED) for every two Housing Board blocks islandwide (Parliament: AED for every 2 HDB blocks islandwide by 2019; ST Online, March 3).

However, long stretches of the Park Connector Network (PCN) are away from HDB blocks as well as vehicular traffic.

The PCN is heavily used by the public for sports and other leisure activities.

Should someone suffer a cardiac arrest, it may take a long time to get to the closest AED.

Furthermore, many stretches of the park connectors are not accessible to ambulances. This will further delay response times and decrease the chances of survival for cardiac arrest victims.

It will definitely be helpful to have AEDs at regular intervals along the PCN for such medical emergencies.

AED boxes with serial numbers can also serve as landmarks, and may help 995 dispatchers identify the caller's exact location and direct the ambulance to the nearest vehicle access point.

I hope the National Parks Board and Singapore Civil Defence Force will address this in the near future.

Ang Beng Hwei