Recently, 17-year-old Chinese badminton rookie Zhang Zhijie suffered a sudden cardiac arrest during the Asian Youth Championship held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and unfortunately passed away. His condition is consistent with sudden death due to sports. Yesterday, Zhang Fubing, a member of the first Beijing School Health Education Teaching Guidance Committee and Deputy Chief Physician of the Medical Office of Beijing Jianzhu University, expressed his heartache in an interview with our reporter. He stated that it is of great significance to vigorously promote health education, whether for athletes or ordinary people, in order to avoid similar tragedies. As a national athlete, one may also face risks. In the eyes of many, professional athletes have excellent physical fitness and there is no risk of sudden death. Zhang Fubing stated that even domestic players may have potential heart problems. For young people, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, congenital coronary artery malformations, idiopathic left ventricular hypertrophy, etc., can all be potential diseases that can induce sudden motor death. In recent years, badminton enthusiasts have experienced sudden cardiac arrest while exercising. Zhang Fubing believes that the reason why similar situations occur on the competitive sports field is only because the number of badminton enthusiasts is large, and the number of high-level athletes is relatively small. "In terms of probability, there is no significant difference." Zhang Fubing said that any competitive sports project is challenging the limits and facing the health risks brought by high-intensity sports. In this context, in addition to providing more care and protection to professional athletes, the initial selection of athletes should also be more scientific and detailed. For example, when young athletes enter the industry, detailed inquiries and investigations should be conducted on their family's history of hereditary heart disease. In addition to routine electrocardiograms, echocardiography and other tests should be added, and even exercise tests should be conducted to evaluate whether they are suitable for competitive sports. In response to potential accidents on the sports field, relevant departments and organizations should also make full preparations, including the provision of emergency facilities and professional emergency personnel, as well as the training of relevant personnel. Timely identification is the first link in the survival chain. On an afternoon in October 2022, a new student playing football at a university in Beijing suddenly fell to the ground without physical contact with others. There happened to be two students on the field who had received emergency training as Winter Olympics volunteers at the beginning of the year. The two of them made a decisive decision and provided first aid to the fallen classmate, ultimately saving the new student's life. This matter has brought great comfort to Zhang Fubing and made him realize the significance of promoting emergency training. According to statistics, the survival rate of cardiac arrest outside hospitals in China is only about 1%. "The commonly used phrase 'golden 4 minutes' is very important. It means that once a patient is diagnosed with cardiac arrest on site, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) must be initiated as early as possible, and AED (Automatic External Defibrillator) must be used as early as possible to save the patient's life to the maximum extent possible. For every 1 minute delay in defibrillation, the success rate of rescue will decrease by 7% to 10%." Zhang Fubing said that the' survival chain 'for successful rescue of cardiac arrest outside the hospital includes six links. Firstly, identify and seek help as early as possible, secondly, perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation as early as possible, and thirdly, use AED for defibrillation as early as possible. The fourth is to obtain advanced life support as early as possible, that is, professional technical personnel are in place for rescue. After the patient's heartbeat and breathing recover, they will be hospitalized for multidisciplinary comprehensive treatment. The last step is for the patient to recover and be discharged. Timely identification of cardiac arrest is the first link in the survival chain and the key to successful rescue of cardiac arrest. Zhang Fubing emphasized that there may be multiple symptoms of sudden cardiac arrest outside the hospital, but the first witness only needs to identify two symptoms to determine: "The first is sudden loss of consciousness. You can gently tap the patient's shoulders and shout loudly to their ears, and if there is no response, it indicates a loss of consciousness. The second is to observe and determine whether there is breathing. The witness can bend down and place their ears on the patient's mouth and nose, listen for breathing sounds, check for chest and abdominal undulations, and feel if there is airflow hitting their face. At this time, irregular breathing and sighing breathing can be considered as no breathing. Once the above two symptoms are met, it should be immediately judged as cardiac arrest and called for help as soon as possible." Perform heart compressions and artificial respiration, and use AED as soon as possible, However, after Zhang Zhijie's unfortunate death, some people on the Internet said that he "did not dare to play play badminton", and even some people asked "if he did not exercise, he would not die suddenly". Zhang Fubing stated that there is no need to stop exercising due to fear of sudden death, but scientific exercise is necessary to enhance risk awareness. Zhang Fubing has three suggestions for ordinary people to engage in physical exercise. The first step is to have a reasonable diet, scientific fitness, and cultivate a healthy lifestyle in order to improve physical fitness and reduce the risk of illness. The second is to act within one's capacity, choose appropriate sports and intensity based on one's age, physical condition, etc., especially do not exercise excessively. The third point is to respect nature and choose a good exercise environment, such as temperature, humidity, air quality, etc. Do not exercise in extreme cold, heat, or air pollution to reduce the risk of exercise. At the same time, Zhang Fubing also admitted that everything is accidental, and sudden cardiac arrest during exercise may not have any warning signs. "For example, excessive sweating without timely electrolyte supplementation may trigger malignant arrhythmia." Therefore, conducting emergency training and health education to improve the overall health literacy of the people is a long and arduous task. According to him, the Ministry of Education has announced over a thousand national emergency education pilot schools in the past two years. The Beijing Municipal Education Commission also established the Municipal School Health Education Teaching Guidance Committee in November last year. "The Chinese Red Cross Society and various levels of Red Cross societies, including the Beijing Red Cross and District Red Cross, are persistently carrying out emergency training for the public. It is hoped that when an accident occurs, more first witnesses can make active and effective treatment within the" golden four minutes "to avoid tragedy." (Xinhua)