The goal of the Heartsafe North West Europe plan is to create a first responder system that is centred in the community and can administer emergency care quickly.

It is modelled after a Dutch effort that notifies responders when someone needs immediate assistance through a specialised smartphone.

With a 25% survival rate for cases treated outside of hospitals, SCA is one of the most common causes of death in Europe.

By comparison, the Netherlands claims a survival rate of 45%.

This difference is intended to be closed by the Heartsafe NWE initiative, which will improve emergency response in included regions.

The project has three pilot sites, with comparable trials being conducted in Germany and Belgium. Galway is one of these sites.

The Irish component is under the direction of Croí, a heart and stroke charity. It states that reducing cardiac-related mortality may be greatly aided by the creation of a first responder system that is among the best in the world and based in the community.

The organisation is creating a registry of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) owned by companies, clubs, and other organisations as part of the strategy.

A list of qualified Cardiac First Responders who will take part in the simulation-based pilot will be added to this.

In the three participating locations, a 10% increase in the survival rate for cardiac arrests that occur outside of a hospital is the desired outcome.