The Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC)the Spanish Heart Foundation (FEC) and Red Cross today presented a defibrillator (AED) to Alicante-born Sheila Laville Alepuz, the 30,000th user of the Ariadna application, developed by the three organisations five years ago with the aim of improving cardiac arrest care in Spain.
On the occasion of European Cardiac Arrest Awareness Day, in October 2020 the SEC, the FEC and the Red Cross launched a campaign to encourage people to continue downloading the app, so that the person who became the 30,000th user would receive an AED to donate to the institution or entity of their choice.
In this case, Sheila Laville Alepuz has donated the defibrillator to the CV MARQ Foundation for its installation in the Archaeological Museum of Alicante, MARQ, which, to date, did not have one of these devices.
The event was attended by Dr. Vicente Bertomeu Martínez, honorary president of the Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC), Remedios Alarcón Barbero, president of the Local Assembly of the Alicante Red Cross and provincial vice-president, and Juan de Dios Navarro Caballero, deputy for Culture of the Alicante Provincial Council and vice-president of the CV MARQ Foundation, as well as various personalities, including José Alberto Cortés, managing director of the CV MARQ Foundation and Manuel Olcina, director of the Archaeological Museum of Alicante.
Dr. Vicente Bertomeu recalled the symbolism of the award during the presentation of the defibrillator: "We wanted to give it to the 30,000 users because that is precisely the approximate number of cardiac arrests that occur per year in our country"..
The chances of surviving a cardiac arrest occurring outside the hospital setting are only between 5 and 10%. "Calling 112, immediately starting cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and using a defibrillator available in our environment are key to improving cardiac arrest care and, therefore, survival".explains Dr. Bertomeu.
The Ariadna app is a large collaborative map of defibrillators throughout Spain that allows users to register as trackers or as collaborators. If the registration is done as a tracker, the application allows the user to geolocate and validate defibrillators in both public and private spaces. In this way the location of these devices is known and they can be used in case of witnessing a cardiac arrest. The application also allows anyone with an official qualification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to register as a collaborator. In a more advanced phase of the project, Ariadna will alert these users to come and perform CPR in the event of a cardiac arrest near their location.
"The Ariadna app is a Red Cross commitment to improve emergency response, and allows volunteers to actively collaborate. Everyone can collaborate in its development by helping with geolocation", commented Remedios Alarcón, president of the Local Assembly of the Alicante Red Cross and provincial vice-president.
For his part, Juan de Dios Navarro Caballero, the deputy for Culture of the Diputación de Alicante and vice-president of the MARQ Foundation, valued as "exemplary and highly generous". the donation of the defibrillator by Alicante-born Sheila Laville Alepuz to MARQ and emphasised that "This tool will allow us to save lives in the event of a cardiac incident in such an emblematic place as the Archaeological Museum of Alicante, which was previously used for medical purposes as the Provincial Hospital".
Ariadna currently has more than 12,000 geolocated defibrillators nationwide, 1,000 of them in the Valencian Community.
The delivery of the defibrillator was made possible thanks to the collaboration of Philips and Alma Industries.
The fastest response to cardiac arrest:
1. Check if the person is conscious and breathing.
2. If not breathing, call 112.
3. Practice CPR manoeuvres (100-200 compressions per minute over the sternum).
4. Ask a third person to locate the nearest defibrillator.
5. Follow the defibrillator's instructions for delivering shocks.
6. Continue CPR manoeuvres until the arrival of the ambulance.
