The Emergency Health Center 061, belonging to the Andalusian Health Service of the Ministry of Health and Consumption, ‘secures’ the processional routes of Holy Week in Seville once again, with the collaboration of the City Council of Seville and the General Council of Brotherhoods and Confraternities of Seville. This initiative was presented by the Minister of Health and Consumption, Rocío Hernández, at an event held at the headquarters of the General Council of Brotherhoods and Confraternities of the city of Seville.
The minister was accompanied by Manuel Molina, delegate of Health and Consumption, Francisco Vélez, president of the General Council of Brotherhoods and Confraternities of Seville, Silvia Pozo, delegate of Health and Animal Protection of the City Council of Seville, and José María Villadiego, healthcare director of the Emergency Health Center 061 in Seville, among other authorities.
The brotherhoods that process through the city from the Friday of Sorrows until Easter Sunday will be equipped with semi-automatic defibrillators, located inside the floats, for their availability, as well as for the thousands of people who gather around them during their procession. In addition, the implementation of own health services in the brotherhoods will allow them to be the first responders in emergency situations until the arrival of public health system resources.
Thus, about 130 non-medical personnel from the different brotherhoods have received training in basic cardiac resuscitation techniques over two days held during February and March. With the help of 40 healthcare professionals, who have volunteered, the members of the brotherhoods have been trained on how to act and intervene in critical situations while emergency services arrive.
The ‘Cardio-Safe Holy Week’, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, has provided training in resuscitation techniques and defibrillator use to more than 20,000 people. This initiative, along with the deployment of voluntary healthcare personnel in the processions of all brotherhoods, has improved the quality of care and increased survival in all life-threatening situations.
In this edition, like the previous ones, a total of 40 defibrillators will be distributed among the 70 brotherhoods that process through the city, to which another 15 fixed defibrillators will be added this year, identified with the ‘Cardio-Safe Zone’ badge, which will be placed in establishments, kiosks, and churches located in high-traffic areas. For this purpose, the collaboration of the Real Betis Balompié and Sevilla F.C. foundations – whose presidents, Rafael Gordillo and Luis Castro, respectively, have attended the presentation event at the headquarters of the General Council of Brotherhoods and Confraternities of Seville – the provincial group of Red Cross, and Almas Industries has been enlisted.
The defibrillators have been used, over these ten years, for the care of people who suffered a cardiac arrest during the procession. In all cases, prior to the arrival of healthcare teams, the intervention of a first responder who applied basic resuscitation techniques and used the nearest available defibrillator was crucial in saving the lives of many of these individuals, who were subsequently discharged from the hospital without sequelae.
Special Health Device
The Emergency Health Center 061 will establish a special health device during Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and the Early Morning, equipped with a mobile ICU from 061 with a doctor, nurse, and emergency technician, strategically located to intervene rapidly in case of need, and a control room operator at the City Council’s CECOP to coordinate the usual health resources available in the public health system. During the Early Morning, the special device will be complemented with a logistical support vehicle from 061, prepared for the care of multiple victims.
Additionally, throughout Holy Week, two mobile advanced care teams (EMCAs) will be added, medical attention at the fixed urgent care points of the Ronda Histórica and Cachorro health centers will be reinforced, and five more managers will be incorporated into the emergency and urgent care coordination center to handle calls. All these resources will be joined by the usual ones from the Andalusian Health Service to address emergencies and urgent situations in the capital: four emergency healthcare teams, two advanced coordination teams, and one basic life support team, all from 061, in addition to six mobile units from the primary care emergency service (SUAP) and seven ambulances from the urgent transport network.
Action in Case of Cardiac Arrest
Each of the brotherhoods has healthcare personnel and members trained by 061 to act immediately in case of witnessing a cardiac arrest in their procession, with the aim of reducing mortality and sequelae, prior to the arrival of emergency healthcare teams. These teams will be the first responders, identifying life-threatening situations versus milder emergencies that, in the vast majority of cases, they will resolve themselves.
Proper care for cardiac arrest involves the early application of a series of actions known as the ‘chain of survival’ that include, in this order, recognizing the situation and activating the emergency healthcare system, immediately starting basic life support maneuvers, early electrical defibrillation, and rapidly implementing advanced life support techniques.
In the event of a cardiac arrest, it is essential to start basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation maneuvers quickly while emergency services arrive. International recommendations indicate that one of the main strategies to reduce the mortality of patients who have suffered a cardiac arrest is to teach the general population the basic measures to apply to these patients while awaiting healthcare teams, which have been shown to increase survival rates in these cases.
‘Cardio-Safe Zones’
Andalusia currently has 1,172 ‘cardio-safe zones’, 129 of them in Seville. To facilitate a rapid response to such situations, the Ministry of Health launched an initiative in 2013 to promote basic life support training and the use of automatic external defibrillators among Andalusian organizations, recognizing all institutions that met the requirements set out in Order of June 4, 2013 (Boja 113/2013), as ‘Cardio-Safe Zones’.
The Emergency Health Center 061 is responsible for managing and registering organizations that have this certification, confirming that these institutions have trained their professionals and placed defibrillators in their facilities, in the appropriate number and locations, as established in the regulations to comply with Decree 22/2012 of February 14 regulating the use of semi-automatic defibrillators in public places outside the healthcare setting and the handling of the equipment by non-medical personnel.
The registry of defibrillators from the Ministry of Health and Consumption indicates that in the province of Seville, 1,658 automatic external defibrillators have been registered (606 in the capital) that, due to their characteristics and operation, can be operated by non-medical personnel. These automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are located in public institutions, leisure spaces, and places prone to large crowds, as well as in private companies, so that in the event of a cardiac arrest, appropriate first aid can be provided while emergency services arrive.
‘Cardio-Safe Zone’ Requirements
The ‘Cardio-Safe Zone’ certification is granted to institutions that apply for it and meet the established requirements. Among them, it is highlighted that applying institutions must have a specified number of semi-automatic external defibrillators in their facilities, operational and in an appropriate location, to ensure that at least 75% of users can apply defibrillation within three minutes.
Likewise, it is also verified that a training plan for personnel offered by entities belonging to the Spanish Council of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation is presented, and that there is an adequate maintenance plan for the installed AEDs, in accordance with their technical specifications and manufacturers’ recommendations. It is also considered essential that the company or institution establish an internal activation protocol to move and use the AED while emergency healthcare services arrive.