In Venezuela, approximately 50,000 people suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrest each year, and 95% of these cases do not survive due to a lack of community preparedness and the absence of available equipment in public spaces. As part of the commemoration of World Heart Day, the Venemergencia Foundation organized 10 training sessions this week to reinforce knowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) techniques and the use of automated external defibrillators in communities that already have them, reaching a total of 500 participants. With this initiative, they have strengthened the community’s ability to respond to emergencies and reinforced the organization’s commitment to building a more heart-safe country.

The Fundación Venemergencia launched the  Programa de Desfibrilación de Acceso Público (DAP) in 2024, an initiative that aims to bring emergency care closer to people and transform everyday spaces into heart-safe zones.

Andrea Galarraga, Sustainability Director at Venemergencia, explained that the program “is a key element in creating community medical systems, where people not only have the knowledge to respond, but also the necessary equipment to do so.”

Education and life-saving equipment

The program combines two fundamental pillars: the installation of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in strategic locations and training citizens to act as first responders. Dr. Luis Enrique Velásquez Díaz, founding partner and operations director of Venemergencia, summarizes it clearly: “Education is fundamental in emergency care.”

Since the installation of the first AED in Los Palos Grandes Plaza in Caracas, the Public Access Defibrillation Program (DAP) has shown encouraging results:

• More than 5,000 citizens have been trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) techniques.
• 28 active AEDs are now available in high-traffic locations, including the headquarters of El Sistema, El Teatro Teresa Carreño, and the Iglesia Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria en Caracas, Universidad de Carabobo, and the Basílica de Chiquinquirá en Maracaibo. Various plazas and public spaces in the municipalities of Chacao, Baruta, El Hatillo, and Libertador, as well as several private companies, are now considered cardiac-safe zones thanks to a portable defibrillator installed by Venemergencia as part of institutional partnerships that embody the company’s mission of improving access to healthcare for Venezuelans.

On the occasion of World Heart Day, the Venemergencia Foundation is promoting a safer, more resilient Venezuela with its Public Access Defibrillation Program, which has already installed 28 automatic defibrillators throughout the country.

“Every second counts in an emergency. Every minute that passes reduces the chance of survival by 7% to 10%,” reminds Dr. Andrés Simón González-Silén, founding partner and executive director of Venemergencia, emphasizing the urgency of having prepared environments.

People at the center

Beyond the innovation of installing public-use medical equipment, the DAP is a community development program that promotes safer, more supportive, and resilient societies, thanks to multi-sectoral partnerships in which citizens are key players. By empowering people to respond to pre-hospital medical emergencies, the DAP is another step in transforming the healthcare system.

The expansion of the program to various cities across the country confirms the Venemergencia Foundation’s commitment to making Venezuela a cardiac-safe nation and paves the way for a future in which every community is capable of saving lives.

With information and images provided by Grupo Venemergencia

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