Fear of defibrillators in Vienna

Lifesaving should no longer fail because of fear

"Call, press, shock" - Vienna's mayor Michael Ludwig shows how it's done.

(Bild: Stadt Wien / Christian Jobst)

A new city-wide campaign aims to allay Viennese fears of doing something wrong in the event of a cardiac arrest. With the easy-to-remember rule of "call, press, shock", two lives are already saved on average every day in Vienna.

With an average of seven minutes between an emergency call and the arrival of emergency doctors at the scene, Vienna is one of the cities with the fastest rescue chains in the world. But even seven minutes is too long for sudden cardiac death, which remains the most common cause of death in the city. Action must be taken after three minutes at the latest. There are around 3500 cardiac arrests every year. In eight out of ten cases, the consequences are fatal. It doesn't have to be this way.

Every moment counts
"Every one of us can help if we know what to do - that's exactly what we want to achieve," said Mayor Michael Ludwig, setting out the slogan for the Puls association 's new campaign. Thanks to the work of the association and the commitment of SPÖ veteran Harry Kopietz and Mario Krammel, Chief Physician of the Vienna Professional Rescue Service, there are already hundreds of defibrillators throughout the city. But all too often, life-saving efforts fail because people are afraid of doing something wrong in an emergency.

Krammel, Ludwig and Kopietz at the presentation of the new encouragement campaign

(Bild: Stadt Wien / Christian Jobst)

With the slogan "Call-Press-Shock - a defibrillator gets the heart pumping", Krammel wants to make it clear: "The first aid measures are simple: call the emergency number 144, then press firmly and quickly in the middle of the chest and deploy a defibrillator as quickly as possible." In cardiac arrest, every second of hesitation is harmful. "The probability of survival decreases by ten percent per minute, and after around three minutes the first irreparable damage occurs in the brain," warns the emergency physician.

"Easier than jump-starting an engine"

Modern emergency defibrillators guide the user through the entire procedure and prevent operating errors. This is "as easy as jump-starting an engine", explains the poster, which shows the heart as the engine. All those involved, from the advertising agency Lumsden&Friends to Gewista as the advertising space lessor, waive their fees.

Two lives saved every day
The widespread support for the new defibrillator campaign is probably also due to the fact that the Puls association has proven that it is possible to make a difference in the fight against fatal cardiac arrest: The survival rate for sudden cardiac death in Vienna used to be ten percent. Since the association has been active, the rate has doubled to 20 percent, meaning that around two lives are saved in the city every day. 

Vienna is now even helping to save lives elsewhere: The model, in which companies can sponsor defibrillators for 3,500 euros, and the "Vienna cabinet", which constantly monitors the operational readiness of the defibrillators from a distance and is a development of the Puls association built in Austria, are now also serving as a model for other countries in their measures to combat sudden cardiac death.