Safe hearts on the beach

JAVEA beaches are now heart friendly as the local branch of the Red Cross, which provides lifeguard services in the town, have had semi-automatic defibrillators installed at the lifeguard posts on La Grava, Benissero, El Arenal, La Barraca and La Granadella.

The importance of this equipment, which very few Spanish beaches currently have installed, became apparent back in 2014 when one in an ambulance on La Granadella beach was used to successfully revive a man who had been pulled from the sea in cardiac arrest, and the Red Cross had been considering supplying them at all its posts in town ever since and decided to do so this year upon renewal of their contract to provide services on the beaches.

During a visit to the lifeguard post on La Grava beach, local mayor and Tourism councillor Jose Chulvi thanked and congratulated the Red Cross for constantly striving for improvement and its professional approach to the service, which is already proving vital this summer. The lifeguards are assisted in their work by the Local Police force, the mayor explained, which has a boat and a jetski to monitor the waters.

“This is what makes our beaches some of the best where safety and quality assistance are concerned,” Chulvi said.

During his visit the mayor was also shown Javea Red Cross’s new ambulance, the fourth in the local fleet and fully fitted with the latest in equipment, by branch head Jose Luis Domenech.