Teaching the public to save lives
The recent launching of the Malta Heart Foundation is a positive step in raising public awareness about the real dangers of cardiac disease. Such efforts are to be commended especially when they arise spontaneously from the public and are endorsed by...
The recent launching of the Malta Heart Foundation is a positive step in raising public awareness about the real dangers of cardiac disease. Such efforts are to be commended especially when they arise spontaneously from the public and are endorsed by local medical authorities like Albert Fenech and Alex Manché.
The statistics quoted are very true and it was because of this harsh reality that the Malta Resuscitation Council (www.resus.org.mt) was founded in 2005. The aims of this Resuscitation Council include the dissemination of recommendations appropriate to Malta for the practice of cardiopulmonary and cerebral resuscitation and making the public aware of resuscitation requirements and practice in Malta.
Like this newly founded society, the Malta Resuscitation Council has been promoting the use of public access defibrillation since its inception.
In fact to date we have trained over 430 persons from various social backgrounds in the use of this equipment and we have 37 national instructors who can teach basic life support and automated external defibrillator use.
The fact that these courses are very popular is another proof of how much the public is becoming aware of the issue.
We therefore welcome and support the Malta Heart Foundation wholeheartedly and augur them well in achieving our common goal which is that of saving more lives.