EuReCa-THREE study reveals prestigious results for the Azores, praises Alonso Miguel - Communication

Secretaria Regional do Ambiente e Ação Climática

The Regional Secretary for the Environment and Climate Action, Alonso Miguel, highlighted "the prestigious results achieved by the Azores in responding to and managing cardiorespiratory arrests outside of hospitals," as revealed by EuReCa-THREE, the largest European study conducted to date in this area. It involved 28 countries and more than 230 million citizens.

According to the latest report, published in July this year, which analysed cardiorespiratory arrests occurring outside hospitals between September and November 2022, "the Azores recorded a cardiorespiratory arrest reversal rate of 20%, a performance significantly higher than the European average, which stands at 7.5%."

"This difference, which is almost 13 percentage points, puts the Region in 4th place among the best performing regions in this area, ahead of countries such as France, Spain, Italy and Germany, among others," the text says.

For Alonso Miguel, who oversees Civil Protection, this reversal rate "reflects the coordinated efforts of all those involved in the emergency system, from the crucial role played by those who witness these incidents to the technical and specialised intervention of professionals from the Azores Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service (SRPCBA) and Fire Departments."

"This remarkable performance is the result of continuous investment by the Region, which has led to the qualified training of teams, the reorganisation of emergency services, the improvement of dispatch processes and the promotion of Basic Life Support (BLS) literacy among the population," he emphasised.

The same study reveals that the Azores stand out positively in terms of the average response time of emergency medical services. Whereas the European average stands at 12.2 minutes, the response time in the Region is 10 minutes, representing a reduction of 18% compared to the European average.

The Regional Secretary explained that "this difference is particularly relevant, since response time has been identified as one of the most significant predictors of survival." He clarified that "response times equal to or greater than 11 minutes are clearly associated with a lower probability of survival."

The data also indicates that the Azores have a shorter response time for emergency medical teams, less than 20 minutes, compared to the European average of 29.5 minutes. This "may indicate greater operational efficiency in approaching victims, although this indicator should be analysed with caution, given the complexity of the cases," explained the government official.

Regarding the regional strategy to improve the response to cardiac arrests, Alonso Miguel stated that "there has been significant investment in resources, with additional ambulances, an increase in the number of crew members and specialised training for Immediate Life Support (ILS) teams, including training in Paediatric Advanced Life Support and International Trauma Life Support (ITLS). Additionally, there have been improvements in protocols for action, both for triage on the Medical Emergency Line and for teams in the field, coupled with the introduction of new technologies, such as telemetry, which bring greater accuracy and effectiveness to decision-making.”

Following this structured approach, between 2022 and 2025, the SRPCBA provided 330 training courses for firefighters, health professionals and civilians, involving 3,100 people. It carried out 820 awareness-raising activities that involved nearly 30,000 participants, mainly in the educational community, notably the "Learn to Help" programme, which covered around 5,000 9th-grade students in Basic Life Support over the last two school years.

With EuReCa-THREE, it is also possible to conclude that the Azores follow trends observed at a European level, namely “a higher incidence of cardiac arrests in males, 56% of cases (compared to 62% on average in Europe), with an average age of 68 years (67.2 years in Europe). The rate of cardiac arrests observed by civilians stood at 58% in the Azores, slightly below the European average of 61.1%.