Hospital da Luz Guimarães offered automated external defibrillators (AED) to Escola Secundária Martins Sarmento and Colégio do Ave , in the context of the project “For a safer school – Together we will save lives” (Para uma escola mais Segura – Juntos vamos salvar vidas). The ceremony marking the delivery of the equipment took place on October 25, with the presence of a representative of Guimarães Municipality, Jorge Pereira, and the general director of Hospital da Luz Guimarães, Ana Abreu. Ana Maria Silva, the director of school Escola Martins Sarmento, and Rui Miguel Costa and Paulo Malheiro, the directors of school Colégio do Ave, thanked Hospital da Luz not only for the equipment, but also for all the work developed near the local community, promoting the education for health. There were also present the director of the Internal Medicine Service and Emergency Department of Hospital da Luz Guimarães, Jorge Gomes da Silva, and Nursing director Teresa Moura, besides Miguel Valério from Femédica. In the context of project “For a safer school – Together we will save lives” , Hospital da Luz Guimarães and Femédica held specific training sessions for certification in the use of AEDs, aimed at some school staff. Over the next few months, teams from the hospital will hold information and training sessions on BLS for students, teachers and other staff. Cardiorespiratory arrest is one of the major causes of death all over the world and BLS manoeuvres and the resort to AED increase substantially the chances of survival of the victims, when applied in the first minutes after cardiac arrest. According to INEM data, the large majority of teaching establishments in Portugal does not have AED equipment available. AED equipment and specific training represent a decisive asset for these schools: from now on, they will be prepared to deal with situations of cardiovascular arrest, counting with the necessary equipment and trained personnel. Hospital da Luz Guimarães promotes regularly near the community initiatives of education for health. You are free to follow our projects on social media or at hospitaldaluz.pt/guimaraes/en .
