The City Council of Alcalá de Henares, in collaboration with the Official College of Pharmacists of Madrid (COFM), Laboratorios ROVI and the Foundation “España Salud”, have presented the project “Farmacias Cardioprotectoras”, which will allow a total of 24 pharmacies in this city, located in areas where this type of assistance is not forthcoming, to have a defibrillation equipment at the service of anyone who needs it.
This initiative provides for the installation of defibrillators in selected pharmacies, especially those with extended opening hours and away from other health centres. As health professionals closest to the population, community pharmacists will receive the necessary training to act in time, in order to reverse episodes of sudden death or sudden onset of cardiac arrest. The objective is to create a safety network of cardioprotective pharmacies to guarantee the population quick access to these devices, to reduce the number of deaths associated with cardiorespiratory arrests.
Cardiovascular problems are today the first cause of death in women and the second in men in Spain, accounting for 30% of deaths. Defibrillation has been shown to be an effective treatment that involves delivering a controlled electrical shock to the heart with the defibrillator.
“With this project, the pharmacy network once again demonstrates that it offers solutions to improve the care and health of the population; we want to offer greater peace of mind and tell citizens that we are better prepared to face an emergency, where reaction time is key to saving a life,” said the president of COFM, Manuel Martínez del Peral.