Cardioprotected tourism is a growing trend. More and more cities and hotels are betting on cardioprotected spaces, either because the regulations of the Autonomous Community oblige them, for awareness or to give a better image to their customers.
These cardioprotected hotels have all the necessary resources to provide immediate assistance to victims of cardiac arrest. Because every minute counts when stopped.
Defibrillators in hotels and public spaces
In our country, about 30,000 people die each year from sudden death and cardiorespiratory arrest. There is no doubt that this figure could be reduced with more cardioprotected spaces, since there are currently only 2 defibrillators for every 10,000 people.
We tend to think that cardiac arrest can only occur within risk groups. However, anyone is susceptible to a cardiorespiratory problem, even when traveling. For this reason, cardioprotection in hotels, tourist complexes and public spaces takes on special importance, since they are spaces where a large number of people tend to concentrate and defibrillators can be an important added value. Currently, more than 40% of 4 and 5-star hotels have a defibrillator in their facilities and have staff trained for its use.
Of course, it is not enough to install the defibrillator, to offer that extra security it is an essential requirement to train employees. The staff must always be prepared and trained to use the AED, but they must also know how to apply cardiopulmonary resuscitation to help save lives.
What does the regulation say?
If we compare ourselves with other European countries, the level of cardioprotection in Spain is quite low. As there is no national legislation, the regulations are managed by the Autonomous Communities and each territory establishes its own criteria for hotels and tourist accommodation to be cardioprotected.