The Romanian Red Cross has launched a program to install semi-automatic external defibrillators in public spaces across Romania in a bid to improve emergency response capacity.

The first defibrillator within the program was installed on May 13 at the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications, and Information Technology of the Polytechnic University of Bucharest.

In the coming period, additional devices will be installed at the Palace of the Parliament, Colțea Hospital, and the headquarters of the Romanian Red Cross in Bucharest.

The program will continue with the installation of defibrillators in other public, high-traffic, and densely populated areas across 18 cities, including Constanța, Pitești, Ploiești, Craiova, Sibiu, Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Buzău, Deva, Piatra Neamț, Râmnicu Vâlcea, Satu Mare, Târgu Jiu, Târgu Mureș, and Timișoara. The final defibrillators in the program will be installed on May 22 in Galați and Brăila.

The initiative’s main goal is to reduce response times in cases of cardiac arrest, situations where every minute is critical. Quick access to a defibrillator can significantly increase survival chances until specialized medical teams arrive, the organization said.

“In a cardiac arrest situation, minutes make the difference, and quick access to such a device can radically change a person’s chances of survival. We are glad that, together with Nepi Rockcastle and our institutional partners, we can bring this program into communities, into places where thousands of people pass every day,” Adrian Halpert, director of the Romanian Red Cross, said.

(Photo: Romanian Red Cross on Facebook)

simona@romania-insider.com