The City Council of Madrid, through the EMT, will install defibrillators on its entire fleet of 2,150 buses by October. Mayor Almeida presented this initiative on Wednesday, which aims to create the largest urban cardioprotection network and will allow both passengers and anyone in public spaces to use the devices.
The City Council of Madrid has launched an ambitious plan to make the capital the most cardioprotected city in Spain. The 2,150 buses of the Municipal Transport Company (EMT) will have defibrillators before October, as announced on Wednesday by Mayor José Luis Martínez Almeida during the project presentation.
A network that covers all neighbourhoods
The initiative, developed by the EMT in collaboration with the Mondragón Group, anticipates that 900 buses already have these devices in place. The rest will be progressively incorporated until the entire municipal fleet is completed in the coming months. “They will not only be for people inside the buses but for anyone who may suffer a cardiac event or arrest,” Almeida explained.
The mayor highlighted that the network will have extensive territorial coverage, as the buses travel through almost all neighbourhoods and streets of the capital. Any citizen will be able to stop a bus if they witness an emergency and use the defibrillator following the voice instructions provided by the device.
Smart technology and training for drivers
The defibrillators are “smart,” Almeida emphasised. When activated, they automatically alert the emergency service 112 and provide voice instructions to guide those attending to the patient while the Samur-Civil Protection medical team arrives. The system analyses whether the affected person is experiencing a cardiac arrest and determines if an electric shock is necessary, avoiding any inappropriate actions.
Additionally, all EMT drivers will receive specific training to handle the defibrillators with “complete ease” in an emergency situation. The equipment is simple enough for any citizen to use by following the instructions, the mayor noted.
Vital assistance before Samur arrives
The average response time of Samur in these types of emergencies is around six minutes. The defibrillators will provide initial assistance during those crucial minutes, which can be vital for saving lives. “What these 2,150 buses with defibrillators will do is save lives in the city of Madrid,” Almeida concluded.
The mayor thanked the collaboration of the Mondragón Group and highlighted that it is cutting-edge Spanish technology that will help strengthen the health protection of Madrid residents. The initiative makes Madrid a “safer and healthier” city, he stated.
For the residents of the capital, this measure represents a step forward in preventing sudden deaths. According to data from the Spanish Society of Cardiology, around 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in Spain each year, and early defibrillation can increase survival rates by up to 70%.
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