JEDDAH — Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, emir of Makkah, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Health Minister Tawfiq Al-Rabiah to implement "Makkah, the City of Safe Heart," an initiative to train citizens outside the health sector to provide emergency care for people suffering from heart attacks in less than 5 minutes. The emir valued the efforts of all parties involved in serving guests during Haj and Umrah seasons, stressing the necessity of harnessing all health and therapeutic services to pilgrims. The first phase of the initiative will train 5,000 people to deal with heart attacks in public, who will develop to cope with sudden heart attacks in the Grand Mosque area, in addition to 1,000 automated external defibrillators to be distributed at various locations known to trainers and paramedics, thus making technical connection between the trainer and specialized cardiology centers and hospitals. According to the MoU, the Ministry of Health will supervise the training, and be associated with a strategic partnership with Philips Company (the consultant company that will implement the project), Makkah Valley Company of Umm Al-Qura University (technical consultant for the project), Saudi Heart Association, and the Red Crescent Authority. Fixed and movable automated external defibrillators will be available, especially in the Grand Mosque area, equipped with a GPS feature. It is expected that there will be more than 3,000 cases of sudden heart attacks in Makkah and the holy sites in a year. If implemented, this initiative will save a large proportion of these cases. In addition, cardiovascular disease is the main cause of early death in the Kingdom. Vision 2030 aims to increase the average age of a person from 74 to 80 years. The initiative aims to raise awareness of the issue to 80 percent via different communication means. The initiative involves four pillars: Training, specifying locations of automated external defibrillators, administering first aid and moving the patient, and the response of the command-and-control center.
