Unique in the world: CPR with us anywhere within six minutes

This is reported by the Heart Foundation, which speaks of a milestone. The news is being celebrated today in The Hague in the presence of King Willem-Alexander.

In 2017 there were still 170,000 volunteers in the Netherlands who can resuscitate, thanks to successful campaigns there are now 245,000. Meanwhile, the number of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) rose from 12,000 to nearly 24,000 in that time.

First minutes crucial

The first minutes after heart failure are crucial. The average arrival time for an ambulance is 10 minutes. That is fast, but trained people can be on site faster because they are already nearby. These so-called civilian first responders must have an AED at hand.

survivability

According to the foundation, civilian emergency workers are on site 2.5 minutes faster than an ambulance. That is also because the time between a report at 112 and that at the resuscitation call system HartslagNu has fallen from 1 minute and 36 seconds to 51 seconds in recent years.

Research by the Amsterdam UMC shows that more people survive a cardiac arrest at home, the Hartstichting reports. In Noord-Holland Noord, for example, where long-term research was conducted, the survival rate in the event of a cardiac arrest at home rose from 26 to 39 percent because the control rooms also called for civilian emergency workers.

According to the Dutch Heart Foundation, about 17,000 people are affected by cardiac arrest outside the hospital every year. At the end of the last century, the survival rate of this group was still 9 percent, now it is almost 25 percent.

Measure AED’s

Earlier this year, the Heart Foundation announced that more AEDs should be installed to further increase the chances of survival.

“Local differences can be seen in the coverage,” said Aart Bosmans, director of HartslagNu, about the number of defibrillators at the time. “In places where the municipality and citizens are involved and where there are many active foundations, we see that the AED coverage is often better.” On this map you can see if there is an AED in your area.