ILSA thanks its new volunteers who have learned how to use the defibrillator and know the first aid manoeuvres!

In the event of cardiac arrest, to avoid brain damage, the first shock with the defibrillator must be administered within 3 minutes. However, according to the data of the scientific reading, the average intervention time is around 12–15 minutes, which is an excessively long time, as for every minute that passes from the beginning of cardiac arrest, in the absence of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the probability of staying alive reduces by about 7–10%.

photo of: Louis Bauer

ILSA was equipped with a Semiautomatic External Defibrillator AED in 2018, and today, 15 people in the company know how to use it. "It is positioned in an optimal place, so that it can be picked up by both the office staff and those in production, perhaps even during the evening shifts, at times when the offices are closed", explains Andrea Panzolato, systems manager for the management of quality, health and safety in ILSA who, together with seven other colleagues, attended the recent Basic Life Support Defibrillation (BLSD) course teaching first aid manoeuvres using a defibrillator. It is an intervention procedure to be carried out on a patient losing consciousness following a cardio-respiratory arrest, to prevent or reduce damage to brain cells due to the reduced supply of oxygenated blood to the brain.

“The course was conducted in a very engaging way by the staff of the Vicenza section of the Italian Red Cross and divided into theoretical part and practical exercises. I would recommend it to everyone and it can be useful not only in the workplace, but also in everyday life ". Do's and Don'ts? "Precisely because we are volunteers and not medical personnel, the first thing to do is to make sure that the" patient "is unconscious and in cardio-respiratory arrest, the second to call 118. Do not start the manoeuvres if the patient is conscious and breathing".