With a temperature of almost 35ºC outside, a 60-year-old tourist suffered a heart attack at Giralda Tower in Seville. The cathedral¿s defibrillator and the attention of 2 tourists - a doctor and a nurse - were key to saving the man from dying of cardiac arrest before the paramedics arrived.
External defibrillators, which produce electrical charges that activate the heart, can be purchased for 600 euros. Specialists say that out of the 30,000 lives lost in Spain each year due to cardiac arrest, 4,500 could be saved. In Andalusia - one of the 4 communities that have regulated their use in Spain - they¿re compulsory in areas with a large influx of people. But their presence remains an unsettled issue. In relation to Spain, the leading countries in Europe have a ratio of 6 to 1.