This Day, That Year: March 25

Editor's note: This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China.

Although emergency medicine in China has undergone tremendous development since the 1980s, it is still an area that requires specialized definitions and formalized training.

The Chinese Association of Emergency Medicine was established in 1986. On March 25, 1988, China Daily noted the launch of the Beijing Emergency Medical Center, the country's first emergency care facility. In May 2001, the 999 Emergency Rescue Center, a subsidiary of the Beijing Red Cross Foundation, went into operation in the capital.

But the emergency facilities in China still lag behind many developed countries.

In 2016, Jin Bo, a 34-year-old deputy editor-in-chief of the online forum Tianya, had a heart attack in a Beijing subway station. He died about 50 minutes after collapsing. If cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, is correctly performed on someone within four minutes of cardiac arrest, the victim's chances of survival greatly increase.

In November, Chinese medical experts released a map guide to help heart attack patients get treatment as quickly as possible. The map names 669 hospitals in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities that are best equipped to deal with heart attacks, so people who display symptoms, such as acute chest pain, can choose the nearest one to get treatment.

Chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, have become the top health threats for Chinese people in recent years.

The number of people in China with cardiovascular disease is estimated at 290 million and rising rapidly, according to a report released by China's National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases last year.

To better cope with natural disasters and other incidents, China plans to build seven national emergency medical aid bases and all cities and counties will establish their own emergency medical aid stations by 2020.