A defibrillator installed in town (illustration).

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Clément Follain / 20 Minutes

  • For a month, the Haute-Garonne firefighters have been using the “Good Samaritan” device.

  • Coordinated with the “Staying alive” application, it makes it possible to call on volunteers trained in first aid who are located near a victim of cardiac arrest.

  • Today, there are 2,200 “Good Samaritans” in Haute-Garonne, firefighters hope that many will register on this application.

Two weeks ago, Mathieu Boutinaud was having a drink in downtown Toulouse with friends when he received a notification on his phone.

The first of its kind.

She asked him if he was available to take care of a person with a heart problem not far from where he was.

However, Mathieu is neither a doctor nor a professional firefighter.

He is just a “Good Samaritan”, registered on the “Staying alive” application like more than 2,200 people in Haute-Garonne and nearly 108,000 in France and in other countries of the world.

Trained in first aid, he is ready to intervene at the request of the firefighters if a person suffers from a heart attack and provide him with first aid while awaiting the arrival of help thanks to the nearest defibrillator.

Because every minute counts, the @BonSamaritainFr is now operational in @HauteGaronne.

Trained or not in first aid actions, download the #StayingAlive application and help us save lives!

# Cardiac Arrest #GestesquiSauvent


➡️https: //t.co/kuEuKkUcn7 pic.twitter.com/aTyZUOovoK

- Firefighters 31 (@ sdis31officiel) August 23, 2020

“It's been several years since I signed up, it feels weird when you first get a notification.

This time, they told me that they would contact me again if the help needed me, which was not the case, ”says this forty-something, also a lifeguard in his company and led by a “Desire to provide assistance”.

It could be put to the test more and more often in the coming months.

In recent weeks, the departmental fire and rescue service of Haute-Garonne (Sdis) has indeed been using this service, which makes it possible to geolocate volunteers near the victim, as well as defibrillators on the public highway.

Decisive first minutes

“Thanks to the application, we can locate the people registered on the application and who are within a certain perimeter ranging from 500 meters in urban areas to more than one kilometer in rural areas.

When we validate their notification, they will receive the indications that will tell them where the defibrillator and the victim are.

This allows us to benefit from an immediate response while our delays can be 5 to 15 minutes, ”explains Lieutenant-Colonel Sylvain Gergaud, head of the Operation group within Sdis 31.

Valuable minutes for the person in distress, which can sometimes even save their life.

“Each year, 50,000 people die of cardiac arrest in France.

The survival rate is on average 7% while in 7 out of 10 cases it takes place in front of a witness.

The faster we massage, the more chances the victim has of getting out of it, ”explains Laurent Istria, responsible for the development of the Good Samaritan, which is funded through sponsorship and is provided free of charge to rescue centers.

Thanks to its application, firefighters have at a glance the defibrillators located near the victim, as well as the registered rescuers.

In Paris, the survival rate which was 17% has risen to 35% since the deployment of the Good Samaritan, which since 2018 has had recourse to 6,000 notifications to volunteers.

"Recruitment" of "Good Samaritan"

“The more 'Good Samaritan' rescuers there are, the more chances the victims will have of survival.

Thanks to this device, the citizen becomes an actor in first aid ”, pleads Lieutenant-Colonel Sylvain Gergaud who hopes that many inhabitants of Haute-Garonne will register.

Virginie Pasquilini did it a while ago.

For this resident of Lagardelle-sur-Lèze, first aid trainer, “it was obvious”.

“It's important to be useful, to be able to help someone in difficulty because often people who witness a cardiac arrest feel helpless while waiting for help,” she pleads.

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  • Firefighters

  • Application

  • Toulouse

  • Health

  • Society

  • Heart attack

  • Cardiac arrest