Scoop: AED placed at bus stop

Bauer Media Outdoor, in cooperation with the Municipality of Gouda, placed the first Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) at a bus stop in the Netherlands in 2022. The location at Oranjeplein in Gouda marked the start of a valuable social initiative that contributes to the safety of travellers and passers-by.

Several bus stops in Gouda soon followed

After Oranjeplein, AEDs were also placed at the Zuiderwerf and Burgemeester van Reenensingel II bus stops. Later, the stops at Doelbrug and Estafetteweg followed. The AEDs are accessible 24/7, highly visible and connected to the HartslagNu network.

In case of an emergency, volunteers in the neighbourhood immediately receive the access code to open the cabinet via this platform.

The technology behind the system is similar to that at railway stations: the AED cabinet is permanently powered, self-monitoring, and automatically reports faults to the control centre.

24/7 life-saving access

A cardiac arrest affects thousands of people in the Netherlands every year. The survival rate increases significantly when an AED is deployed within six minutes. It is therefore essential that these life-saving devices are accessible anytime, anywhere.

"In many neighbourhoods, AEDs hang in buildings with opening hours. But cardiac arrest does not take office hours into account. With this placement at bus stops, we filled literal gaps in the network and increased the chances of quick help,"

said Jeroen Albers, Development & Operations Director at Bauer Media Outdoor.

Collaboration with impact

The cooperation between Bauer Media Outdoor and Gemeente Gouda shows how public and private parties can work together on societal safety. The placement of AEDs at strategic, public locations fits perfectly with Bauer Media Outdoor's role as Platform for Good: a network that is not only visible, but also significant.

Thierry van Vugt, alderman at Municipality of Gouda:

"Gouda has the first in cooperation with Bauer Media Outdoor with the placement of the AED. We are the first municipality with an AED at a bus stop. The faster an AED is deployed in case of cardiac arrest, the greater the chance of survival. The AED at the bus stop is accessible day and night and matches the hospitality for travellers that we as Gouda want to project."