Portimão already has six new Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) throughout the municipality. The Municipal Network, inaugurated this Friday, February 28, comes to give a quicker response to those who suffer a cardiorespiratory arrest, saving people from what could be "an announced death".
The six new facilities are spread over the following locations: Largo 1º de Maio (from the City Council), Portimão Riverside Zone, Alameda (Republic Square), Praia da Rocha, next to PSP, Alvor Riverside Zone and in the churchyard of Igreja da Large mussels.
«With this network, we were, in effect, able to cover the entire municipality», he began by framing Richard Marques, commander of the Fire Department of Portimão, to the Sul Informação.
This entire project started in 2016, but, at the time, «only with four pieces of equipment and furniture that only accompanied events with greater flow». What is certain is that, even so, it was possible to “reverse three cardiorespiratory stops outside of ambulances”.
Now, "one more step" has been taken, with the installation of six defibrillators on the public highway. And how can these be used?
“There are two hypotheses here. If I am an AED operational, with training, and when I pass in the street, I detect a situation, I go to the cabin and alert the Municipal Relief Operations Center in Portimão. On the other hand, when they know that I am an operational, they release the AED and I can start the maneuvers», explains Richard Marques.
“Now, if whoever presses the button in the cabin is not operational, he can immediately take the AED to the victim and identify where he is in geographic terms. Automatically, the system sends an alert to all registered operators for that cabin, saying that there is a victim suffering a cardiorespiratory arrest, and someone goes straight to the scene», he adds.
An important point is that this "does not replace the call to 112". In other words: these means are dispatched anyway. What happens is that there is “a faster response” and proximity.
In the presentation of the Municipal Network, this Friday, we saw just that. Isilda Gomes, mayor of Portimão, was the first to use the DAE, in a simulacrum. After giving the alert, an official from the municipality quickly arrived and began the resuscitation maneuvers.
Shortly thereafter, the Fire Department also came to continue the work. All within 1 or 2 minutes.
For Isilda Gomes, the investment – close to 50 thousand euros – in this entire project was «very well spent».
“The difference is often minutes. Therefore, everything we do to save more citizens from an announced death is positive and only with the action of all means can we reverse it», he said.
“If something happens, we immediately have an answer and this is a problem that arises. We all know, unfortunately, victims who did not have the opportunity to have an AED with them and that certainly made a difference», he also considered.
The mayor even expressed her pride in feeling “that we have a city with the capacity to provide care in this way”.
“We gave another sign of our concern for the health and well-being of our citizens. Tourists can come calmly because, if there is any problem, we are able to respond immediately”, he guaranteed.
For the time being, in the municipality of Portimão, there are about 250 people trained in DAE. «But we have no limit! We want more!», exclaimed Richard Marques.
“We are autonomous when it comes to training new professionals. Civil Protection has its own program. We are not going to stop and we are going to do more training. At the moment, all the operational of the three security forces (PSP, Maritime Police and GNR) are trained, in addition to the Fire and Red Cross, as well as some citizens», he said.
Another future objective is, by the end of the year, to have a defibrillator in all municipal facilities that receive the public.
Photos: Pedro Lemos | Sul Informação
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