On May 9, 2023, 17 employees of Birla Carbon Spain (BCS) received a training course in the use of Semi-Automatic External Defibrillators (DESA) – a medical device for extra-hospital use that can help save thousands of lives a year, in the event of a cardiac arrest.

It is imperative to note – If a cardiac massage is performed and combined with the use of a defibrillator in the first few minutes of the arrest, the chances of keeping the person alive increase up to 90%. Hence, having defibrillators at the plant and almost 20 people being trained to use it, is undoubtedly a significant awareness towards protecting lives.

The theoretical training (taught by BCS’ third-party prevention service – Ibersys) was completed with internships by emergency personnel from the Valdecilla Hospital. Those who took part in the course had to have official accreditation for DESA intervention, which remains registered with the Ministry of Health of the Government of Cantabria and must be renewed every three years.

Of the 17 accredited people, seven are part of the first intervention team of the BCS emergency plan and belong to the quality and operations department, and ten belong to the maintenance, administration, and sales departments, who voluntarily enrolled for the course.