Quick help in the event of cardiac death: Lifesaver app launches

Quick help can save lives in the event of sudden cardiac death: The city of Erlangen has therefore launched the "ERLANGEN SCHOCKT!" project together with the Fürth Emergency Medicine Working Group (AGNF) in 2023. If the emergency services are called due to a cardiac arrest, valuable minutes often pass before they arrive. Resuscitation measures and early defibrillation can help within these minutes. This can increase the chances of survival by up to 50 percent. This is where "ERLANGEN SCHOCKT!" comes in: a sponsorship model will enable more public defibrillators to be placed in the future. These, as well as existing devices, will be integrated into an app-supported alerting system for first responders.

First instructions as a first aider

The Lifesavers Erlangen region's lifesaving app will therefore be an additional component in the regular rescue chain in future. In the event of an incoming emergency call due to a cardiac arrest, the integrated control center will then use the app to alert trained first responders in the immediate vicinity. Erlangen relies on the tried-and-tested system of the Region der Lebensretter e. V. association, which is active throughout Germany and aims to shorten the time without resuscitation. Since March, the first citizens have been trained as first aiders in the lifesaver app. The first aiders are pre-qualified people who have volunteer or full-time experience in the field of emergency medicine or other operational experience, e.g. with the fire department.

In mid-April 2024, numerous cooperation partners support the recruitment and training of first aiders within their organizations. These include

• the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Erlangen-Höchstadt
• the Bavarian Red Cross District Association Erlangen-Höchstadt (with the Youth Red Cross and Water Rescue)
• the Erlangen Mountain Rescue Service
• the German Life Saving Association Erlangen
• the Erlangen Fire Brigade
• the Friedrich-Alexander-University (FAU) Erlangen-Nuremberg
• German Resuscitation Council (GRC)
• German Resuscitation Council
• General Practitioners Erlangen and Surroundings e. V.
• Emergency Medicine Working Group at the FAU
• Johanniter Regional Association of Middle Franconia
• Erlangen District Medical Association
• Malteser Hilfsdienst e. V. Erlangen
• Malteser Waldkrankenhaus St. Marien.

Other potential cooperation partners have signaled their support.

Donations for equipment

In order to be well equipped to save lives, the first aiders receive a small kit. In addition to a high-visibility vest, these first-aider bags contain the necessary equipment for resuscitation, such as a respiratory mask, gloves, scissors, etc. This is made possible by donations. This is made possible by donations. Autohaus Kraus Erlangen has donated 2,500 euros to equip the first trained and registered first aiders, while Kreis- und Stadtsparkasse Erlangen Höchstadt Herzogenaurach has donated 5,000 euros.

At the kick-off event at the end of April, Mayor Jörg Volleth thanked all cooperation partners: "You make it possible to support the project in Erlangen and place it on broad shoulders. In particular, all volunteer first aiders who are trained for the lifesaver app are making a valuable contribution to increasing the chances of survival." The expansion of public defibrillators and the number of first aiders in the Lebensretter Erlangen region is to take place over the next two to four years. The more public defibrillators and trained first aiders are in use as part of the Lifesavers app, the more reliable and effective the help network against cardiac arrest will be.

Interested parties are currently being sought to take on the first sponsorships for automated external defibrillators (AED). Further information on the project can be found on the Internet at www.erlangen-schockt.de and at www.regionderlebensretter.de. Erlangen is drawing on experience from the neighboring AGNF project, "FÜRTH SCHOCKT!", in the city and district of Fürth. Other local authorities in the region are about to join the project.

(A short version of the article can be found in the city newspaper "Rathausplatz 1" - June 2024 issue)