Breda, Patti and Glenn have all personally witnessed the loss of a life caused by cardiac arrest and in meeting with the trio last week each told me they feel that the availability of a defibrillator might well have resulted in a different outcome.
The same point of view is being increasingly shared across the region with the Orihuela Council now placing defibrillators in all public buildings. Help at home Charity Costa Blanca and Help Vega Baja have also purchased a defib for each of the five Local Police Patrol Cars on the Orihuela Costa, and Ayuntamiento’s in Almoradi, San Miguel, Dolores and Campoverde are also in the process of acquiring them for their public offices and sports centres.
The Emerald Isle in La Florida and The Rusty Nail in Campoverde are two more expat establishments that now have the equipment on site.
Breda told me “It is our belief that defibrillators should be as common as fire extinguishers, cared for, and readily available, with suitably trained individuals on hand in every bar, and while approximately 95% of people who suffer a Sudden Cardiac Arrest will die before reaching the hospital, a figure that in view of local ambulance waiting times could be even higher on the Orihuela Costa, with effective community initiatives in place, the survival rate could be as high as 60%.”
As such, following a meeting set up by Ger, the proprietor of Smiling Jacks in Cabo Roig last week, the three are now exploring availability, legislation, training and costs of the equipment, with a view to launching a fundraising campaign on the Cabo Roig strip in the coming weeks.
Patti said “There’s a long way to go. We are still in the very early stages, although we will hold our first fundraiser between 2 and 6pm on Friday 8 November with a Hair and Nails afternoon at Smiling Jacks. Local residents and the communities in which they live are the most important line of defence against cardiac arrest, so we hope that this project of procuring community defibrillators will have support from everyone in the area.”
