New rules to regulate life-saving defibrillators were passed yesterday in what Government hopes will lead to them being placed in strategic points across the Island.

Currently, only the hospitals, Police, ambulances and doctors have the machines, which are used to treat people who have gone into cardiac arrest. But Government hopes businesses across the Island will buy and install the machines because it is setting up a register to regulate them and to ensure those using them are properly trained.

Australian film mogul Bruce Gordon, who lives in Bermuda, has said he is willing to donate a number of defibrillators, and Health Minister Nelson Bascome said yesterday he hoped companies would follow suit.

Government will then assess any strategic "gaps" across the Island and place defibrillators there. The Health Department and the Red Cross will provide training for the operators, who will be expected to update their skills yearly.

The House of Assembly heard yesterday that defibrillators could be a life-saver, and Government MP Dale Butler suggested there should be one in Parliament because so many MPs were unfit.

Introducing the Public Health Amendment Act, Mr. Bascome said heart attacks were the biggest killer in Bermuda, resulting in 120 deaths each year. Survival rates drop by ten percent each minute after a person goes into cardiac arrest, so the earliest possible treatment is needed to save a life.

"Having some people in the community who can respond to these situations greatly increases the chances of survival," said Mr. Bascome.

"Perfectly healthy people can suffer from heart failure. Someone may have a stroke at a very young age - they may appear perfectly healthy."

He said all operators of the defibrillators had to be trained to know the right signs and must be able to do CPR first. The new regulations will provide a register for all defibrillators, train operators, ensure the machines are maintained, and log all incidents when they are used.

Shadow Health Minister Michael Dunkley said healthcare was only mentioned once in this year's Throne Speech and he wanted Government to focus more on the issue.

He said he wanted to know what level of training operators would need and what protocols would be followed for the machines.

And he said he wanted clarification on what legal liabilities people could face if they treated someone with a defibrillator and they wanted to sue. He said it was wrong for Government to introduce the amendments without already having the regulations in place.

Mr. Dunkley said he supported the issue but felt the devil was in the detail, and claimed Government had provided no details on how the register would be maintained and what checks would be in place.

He said: "We need more detail on what registration means and what you have to do to be registered. Can you shed some more light?"

But Mr. Bascome said the regulations would be "coming along pretty quickly" and specific questions could be asked then. He said the issue could even be debated in the House again.

Opposition Whip Maxwell Burgess said Government needed to be proactive to prevent conditions such as heart disease and diabetes, rather than simply treat them when they happened.

"It is unacceptable for Government to say their response to heart disease is this defibrillator. We have to minimise getting these things in the first place," he said.

Government MP Dale Butler said 95 percent of MPs were unfit. "We have an ageing legislature, ageing judges, and ageing MPs on both sides of the House," he said. "Let's not make fun of it. When we look for someone to administer CPR after someone has raced to the House for a quorum, they will be glad it (defibrillator) is here.

"There should be one in the Cabinet Office. We should be leading the way to ensure that teachers have CPR training and are knowledgeable about defibrillators. Our businesses and hotels should have them."

Shadow Education Minister Tim Smith said: "To trumpet defibrillators as a significant step that this country is doing in health care is an injustice to our health care needs.

"It is important but it is not significant. This Government is offering a Band-Aid approach to the problems of health care."

Mr. Smith said Government should be tackling problems of the rising cost of health care due to a stand-off between doctors and the insurance industry. "This is an insult to the real victims of high cost healthcare," he said.

Shadow Youth Minister Cole Simons wanted definitions of who would qualify to use the defibrillators, and said the second hand market should also be regulated.

Government Whip Ottiwell Simmons said the bill laid a groundwork for regulation. Operators would have to be qualified in CPR first, and the machines could be bought from the Red Cross.

He suggested any organisation with more than ten people should install a defibrillator for their staff. Turning to the opposition criticism, he said: "This is not the most significant piece of legislation we have brought to the House, but it is one cog in a big wheel."

Government backbencher Wayne Perinchief said he believed as many establishments as possible should be encouraged to get defibrillators and become registered.

And he said it was better to be safe than sorry.

He said: "Any longer than ten minutes, and 90 percent of cardiac arrest victims will die if not defibrillated.

"I believe that every effort should be made and every facility should be available to resuscitate a person in a situation of an emergency, so, after the fact, whether the person survived or not, we know that we did everything that we could."