Every year, more than 70,000 people in Germany suffer a sudden cardiac arrest outside a hospital. Despite the high number of people affected, the survival rate is currently only 10 percent. This is an alarming figure that highlights the importance of fast and effective first aid. Irreversible brain damage develops just 3 - 5 minutes after cardiac arrest, while ambulances need an average of 8 - 12 minutes to reach the scene.
In order to significantly increase the chances of survival in such emergencies, the Hellersen Sports Clinic is actively committed to improving emergency care in the district by supporting the "Region der Lebensretter MK" initiative launched by the Märkischer Kreis. This initiative enables medical personnel to register and be alerted via an app in order to act as first responders until the emergency services arrive. Traffic accidents are excluded.
To reward this commitment, the Sportklinik Hellersen grants every employee registered in the network an additional day of paid leave per year. In addition, the specialist clinic would like to enable even more people to become part of the network and therefore trains its non-medical staff on a voluntary basis during working hours free of charge.
"Responding quickly in the event of a cardiac arrest is crucial, as sudden cardiac death is one of the most common causes of death. Last year, 55,000 people were resuscitated by the emergency services, but only 51% of cases received immediate help from first responders," explained Dirk Burghaus, Chairman of the Management Board of Sportklinik Hellersen, adding: "In addition to our trained medical staff, we also give administrative staff the opportunity to take part in resuscitation training during working hours and thus strengthen emergency care in the Märkischer Kreis."
In the event of an emergency, the district control center can alert registered first responders who have installed the "Region der Lebensretter 3.0" app on their smartphone. The app shows the exact location of the emergency and shows the first responders the quickest possible way to get there.
Qualifications such as medical licenses or corresponding training certificates for medical personnel are recognized for registration in the first-aider app. Non-medical staff can acquire the necessary knowledge through training. "The participation of the Sportklinik Hellersen brings us closer to our goal of shortening the resuscitation-free interval to a minimum and making the Märkischer Kreis a region of lifesavers," says Susanne Weber, senior physician at the Sportklinik Hellersen and medical director of the rescue service in the Märkischer Kreis. She is in charge of the implementation in the specialist clinic and checks the certificates that employees have to provide in order to participate. "We look forward to every employee who registers in the app and thus makes a decisive contribution to the further development of emergency care in the Märkischer Kreis," says Dirk Burghaus and hopes that employees will participate actively.
District Administrator Marco Voge shares this hope: "The Sportklinik Hellersen campaign is exemplary. It motivates people to register as lifesavers and save lives on a voluntary basis. We are therefore very grateful for the innovative idea and the commitment of the clinic management. After just under a year, we already have 600 lifesavers at MK. That is an impressive number, which we would like to increase. The support in recruiting new participants, especially from the medical field, helps a lot. The system is an important addition to the regular rescue service. There have been almost 1,000 alerts so far. In some cases, lives have also been saved. Many thanks to everyone who takes part!"
Press contact
Sarah Burghaus
Head of Marketing & Communications, Press Officer
sarah.burghaus@hellersen.de
Marketing & Communication
marketing@hellersen.de
