A team from Hospital da Luz Póvoa de Varzim visited, on February 28, three schools in the district of Póvoa de Varzim and one in the district of Vila do Conde, to which the hospital offered automated external defibrillator devices (AED), a year ago. The purpose was to evaluate the state of the devices and renew the training formerly provided to teachers and staff, so that they could use them appropriately in case of need to apply Basic Life Support (BLS) manoeuvres. This visit is part of the initiative “ Towards a safer school – Together we will save lives ”, through which Hospital da Luz, in 2022, provided BLS training with AED to students, teachers and other staff of Colégio do Amorim, Escola Secundária Eça de Queirós and Escola Secundária Rocha Peixoto, in Póvoa de Varzim, and also Colégio do Forte, in Vila do Conde. Although the AED Operator certificates are valid for five years, the truth is that those who received them feel the need to recap the procedures periodically, to feel more secure when providing first aid with these devices. The training given on the 28 th served to clarify some doubts and review the procedures. Hospital da Luz intends to repeat this action every year in the educational establishments. Cardiorespiratory arrest is a major cause of death, and BLS manoeuvres and the resort to defibrillators increase substantially the chance of survival of the victims, when initiated in the first minutes after the cardiac arrest. Reducing the number of deaths by cardiorespiratory arrest should be a common goal. Whenever the community so requires, Hospital da Luz Póvoa de Varzim is there!
