Clari Martel: “Nineteen centers already have this device that saves thousands of lives every year, especially in the immediate care of so-called sudden death”
All public educational centers located in the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana already have a DESA device (Semi-Automatic External Defibrillator), a portable electronic device capable of diagnosing and treating cardiorespiratory arrest.
This initiative to provide the centers with a DESA has been coordinated by the Municipality's Department of Education, a department that has assumed the total cost of the same in nine centers. With these acquisitions, therefore, the equipment in the network of municipal educational centers is completed, added to the donation made at the time by the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, through the Commonwealth of Medianías, and by the Umiaya Association, a fact that He wanted to value and thank the head of the area Clari Martel.
In total, there are nineteen centers that already have “this device that saves thousands of lives every year, especially in the immediate care of so-called sudden death (which occurs suddenly),” said the mayor.
Secondary Education institutes, Early Childhood and Primary Education centers, Adult Education centers and the Official Language School have this device in visible and easily accessible areas.
“Guaranteeing the physical integrity of the entire school community, minors and adults, both during school hours and during the development of extracurricular activities, is vital for this city council. Therefore, it is an important and reassuring achievement to know that the network of municipal educational centers are cardio-protected,” said Mayor Conchi Narváez.
Already, last March, the Canarian Umiaya Foundation for Sudden Death Care had donated three AEDs that were installed in as many Early Childhood and Primary Education centers in the municipality.
Councilor Martel added that, “I hope we don't have to use it, but we now feel safer by having these devices that give greater security and peace of mind to families and teaching staff, especially mothers and fathers of minors affected by cardiac pathologies.”
CPR and choking workshop
On the other hand, last Friday, September 30, health experts in first aid carried out a Training workshop for the Use and Management of the DESA, where they were taught to both the teaching and administrative staff of the educational centers of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, theoretical and practical knowledge in Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) with only the hands, the use of the AED, as well as the protocol of action in case of choking, known as the 'Heimlich maneuver'.
