“The Netherlands is the first country in the world to have a comprehensive and nationwide network of citizen first responders and AEDs.”

Last year, almost 4,000 AEDs were installed in the Netherlands. These are portable devices that can restore heart rhythm through an electric shock in the event of cardiac arrest. This brings the total number of installed Automated External Defibrillators to 24,500, according to the Heart Foundation's annual report.

It also states that last year 25,000 more Dutch people registered as citizen rescuers who can resuscitate a victim of cardiac arrest within 6 minutes. This brings the total number of citizen rescuers to 245,000.

”As a result, the survival rate in the event of cardiac arrest has increased in the Netherlands in recent years from 9 to 25 percent," according to the Heart Foundation.

Source: Heart Foundation