The Sapienza University of Rome is the largest cardioprotected university in Europe, with over 40 semi-automatic defibrillators installed within the university city and in the Rome and Latina offices. On Monday 30 January, at 11.00, in the Aula magna of the Rectorate, the event “Sapienza Ateneo Cardioprotetto” will be held, a day of awareness aimed at reducing deaths from cardiac arrest, with training segments, video projections and technical-scientific interventions dedicated. The event is dedicated precisely to the presentation of the university network made up of over 40 semi-automatic external defibrillators (AED) located in the university buildings distributed throughout the territory of Rome and Latina.
After the greetings of the rector of Sapienza Antonella Polimeni and the deans of the three medical faculties Domenico Alvaro (Medicine and dentistry), Carlo Della Rocca, (Pharmacy and medicine) Erino Angelo Rendina (Medicine and psychology), teachers and technicians of the University will intervene they will illustrate the project and address the issue of contrasting sudden cardiac deaths. The results of a survey conducted by university researchers on the knowledge of first aid and the use of defibrillators of members of the university community will also be presented.
The semi-automatic defibrillator network of the University was made operational thanks to the training activities certified through the Basic Life Support Defibrillation course, delivered by the instructors of the Skill Labs and the simulation centers of the medical faculties, which saw the involvement of around 400 employees first aid. The installed devices are equipped with a voice guide – explains a note from Sapienza – and visual indications that describe in detail each operation to be performed. The elaborations that allow intuitively to identify the devices were carried out thanks to the GeoCartographic Laboratory of the Department of Letters and Modern Cultures, in collaboration with the Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases.
“The installation and positioning of multiple semi-automatic defibrillators represent a real step forward – underlines the rector Antonella Polimeni – in the prevention of sudden cardiac death and constitute the fundamental prerequisite for a cardio-protected university. Added to this are the Blsd training activities provided by our expert teachers and professionals for the use of these key tools for survival before the rescuers arrive. With this project – she adds – Sapienza confirms its commitment to protect and safeguard the health and well-being of those who live at the university. The achievement of this goal, which was also made possible thanks to the internal skills of our university, represents a virtuous example that places Sapienza at the forefront in the fight against deaths from sudden cardiac arrest”.
The appointment is part of an awareness project aimed at reducing sudden cardiac deaths, which represent the main public health problem and are responsible for about 50% of all cardiovascular deaths. The major scientific societies have planned to reduce deaths from cardiac arrest by at least 20% by 2030, but to achieve this goal – it is highlighted – it is essential to organize and develop suitable first aid through cardiac massage and early defibrillation , which represent the first and most important intervention to save life.
The incidence of cardiac arrest outside hospital environments, i.e. on the street, in work and study places, at home, in public places such as stations and airports, is between 20 and 140 people per 100,000 and survival varies from 2% to 11%, a figure closely linked to the presence and clear visibility of workstations with semi-automatic defibrillators and the possibility of making emergency calls to activate rescuers. The use of the automatic external defibrillator in the first few minutes after a heart attack can increase the chances of survival by 70%.
