Meerhoven Hartveilig (Meerhoven Heart Safe)

A few years ago, Residents’ Association Meerhoven took the initiative to set up the Meerhoven Heartsafe Committee with the task of strengthening heart safety in Meerhoven. In collaboration with others, the committee has succeeded in making the Meerhoven district ‘heart safe’.

A neighbourhood may call itself heart-safe if one or more AEDs are accessible 24 hours a day in a public place in all so-called 6-minute zones. As a result, people who suffer a cardiac arrest can always be resuscitated within 6 minutes by volunteers (civilian aid workers) who are known to the HartslagNu organization.

HartslagNu is alerted immediately after a 112 report and coordinates the deployment of emergency services and AEDs. Ambulances quickly have a response time of 12 minutes after a 112 call, which is too long for a cardiac arrest. With a 6-minute zone, the victim’s chance of survival is considerably increased.

AED network
Thanks to the joint efforts of the Meerhoven Heartsafe Committee, Eindhoven Hartveilig Foundation, Philips and individuals, a network of 10 AEDs has been formed. This makes it a well-covering network. The AEDs are located at the following locations: Waterlinie, Grasbaan, Landleven (2x), Graslook, Grasland, Bosfazant, Zandvis, Zandbloem and Meerwater. HartslagNu is familiar with the exact locations of the AEDs and, when appropriate, passes them on to its alerted citizen aid workers.

Civilian aid workers and their training
Throughout the year, several organizations campaign to further increase the number of citizen aid workers. The Meerhoven Heartsafe Committee is also actively looking for local residents who would like to take a CPR course and then register with HartslagNu as civilian aid workers.

Fortunately, Meerhoven residents appear to be involved in heart safety in their neighbourhood. In recent years, dozens of residents attended a CPR starter or refresher course organized by the committee. The number of civilian aid workers registered with HartslagNu in zip code 5658 is currentely around 150.

Despite this success, we also want to encourage other residents in Meerhoven to become civilian aid workers. The training takes one evening. On that evening you will learn how to resuscitate victims of cardiac arrest and how to operate the AED. An emergency responder must take a refresher course every year to remain certified. People who have a First Aid or FAFS diploma naturally also meet the required qualifications, provided they too recertify annually for CPR and AED use.

Interested in a CPR course?
Every spring and autumn, starting and refresher CPR courses are organized in Meerhoven, in collaboration with training agency FACTS. The next courses will take place in October and November 2024. The course can also be taken by English speakers. If there is great interest in the courses, additional days will be organized. If you are interested, you can register with FACTS at facts-opleidingen.nl/agenda/.

Shortly after attending the training, you will receive a certificate and an invoice from the training office. The cost is €35,50 and the invoice should be paid directly to the trainer. You can usually claim the invoice from your own health insurance company. If the insurer will not reimburse you and it is inconvenient for you to bear the costs yourself, then the costs can be claimed through the committee at Residents’ Association Meerhoven. The only condition is that you register as a volunteer with HartslagNu.

More information
For questions or other matters regarding heart safety, you can always contact the committee via e-mail at hartveilig@meerhoven.nl.