World Restart a Heart Day is celebrated every year on the 16th of October, this the theme – Resuscitation for all.

With this in mind, the Malta Resuscitation Council (MRC) has called for Automated External Defibrillator (AED to be accessible to the public and easily located.

The MRC stressed that adults who suffer a sudden cardiac arrest might benefit of a shock delivered by an AED. For every minute the shock is delayed, the chance of survival decreases by 7%.

Out of hospital cardiac arrests occur in over 300,000 people in Europe every year, and yet bystander CPR is only initiated in less than half of these cases. Every second counts, the MRC said.

The MRC stated that, “every second that the brain spends without blood delivering oxygen and nutrients dramatically increases the risk of death or permanent brain damage in survivors. Prompt bystander CPR keeps that oxygen flowing and can boost survival with a good outcome by as much as threefold.”

It explained that this is why AEDs were developed to guide a non-trained bystander to deploy it effectively using voice prompts. “Being trained makes the process faster and more efficient, improving the chance of survival overall.”

That is why AEDs need to be accessible to the public and easily located. The Malta Resuscitation Council recommends:

• All entities who are considering installing an AED for their private premises to do so in a place which is public access within their perimeter and have appropriate signage for easy location

• All entities who already have AEDs within their premises to consider moving them in a public space within their perimeter and have appropriate signage for easy location

• All entities who have an AED to register on already available applications which individuals can download and use to easily locate the nearest AED.

The Malta Resuscitation Council further encouraged everyone in the communities to learn how to administer CPR.

The MSC stated that, “the heart can be ‘kick-started’ in three simple steps – CHECK. CALL. COMPRESS. Firstly, CHECK safely whether an unresponsive victim is breathing or not. If not responding or breathing, CALL 112 immediately for help. Using both your bare hands COMPRESS rapidly and deeply on the chest to get blood circulating and buy time until the emergency services arrive. With these three actions, anyone can save a life.”

The MSC pointed out that Basic Life Support Courses teach the correct and safe delivery of CPR which can mean the difference between life and death for a close relative or a total stranger. Anyone can learn CPR, including young children.

The Malta Resuscitation Council said that it is actively working and promoting the introduction of resuscitation training in the National Curriculum.

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