Karnataka: 16 district hospitals to get automated external defibrillators

The Health and Family Welfare Department on Monday issued an order to operate Automated External Defibrillators in 16 district hospitals and 147 taluk hospitals. 

Fifty per cent of them will be set up under public-private partnership and the other 50 per cent with resources from the department. 

Additionally, 77 centres will be set up to expand the STEMI programme, popularly known as the Puneeth Rajkumar Hrudaya Jyothi scheme. These centres will be set up completely with the resources of the department. 

The department has also set up a Programme Management Unit (PMU) to overlook Tele-ECG. The team will consist of a cardiologist, physician and state nodal officer, all hired by the department. 

The STEMI programme is being set up in three phases. In the first phase, 41 centres were allocated and the tender process for them was completed in March 2025. In the second phase, 45 centres were allocated. The tender process will be completed in March 2026 and now the 77 centres will be set up. The first two phases were conducted in the PPP model. 

The PMU will have to ensure adherence to accuracy in ECG, reporting protocols and proper reading of Tele-ECG reports. The unit will also follow up on the patients who get the ECG done. 

Doctors of the PMU will have to provide expert opinion and feedback on discrepancies in reports and prescribe corrective actions when quality issues are noted. 

The government has ordered that the process of the ECG procedure must be completed within 10 minutes. The critical ECG reports must be read by the doctor within the five to six minutes after it is uploaded. 

The ECG will be priced at Rs 150 at the district hospital and around 20 ECGs to be conducted everyday and 10 ECGs approximately to be conducted every day, according to the government order.