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MAKKAH: Red Crescent volunteers helped to save a man’s life during Friday prayers at Makkah’s Grand Mosque after he suffered a cardiac arrest resulting from a heart attack.

Saudi Red Crescent Authority spokesman Abdulaziz Al-Suwayni said the operation room in Makkah received a report at 12:04 p.m. about someone in the King Abdullah expansion who was experiencing severe chest pain. The operation room sent the report directly to a volunteer team working at the mosque.

The team attended to the patient and carried out the necessary preliminary tests, which showed he was suffering from a cardiac and respiratory arrest. He had to be placed on an automated external defibrillator device, which had been provided by the authority in several areas of the Grand Mosque to deal with such emergencies.

Al-Suwayni said the team used the AED on the patient, who is in his forties, and took the required steps to complete the recovery process, with the patient regaining his pulse and breath by the time an emergency relief team arrived at the location.

The emergency relief team carried out the necessary measures to transport the patient to Ajyad Emergency Hospital. An EKG showed a heart attack that called for an urgent cardiac catheter. 

He was transferred to King Abdullah Medical City, where he was successfully treated. He is in a stable condition. 

Al-Suwayni said the successful life-saving measures and treatment of an emergency condition were the result of the AED project launched by the authority in cooperation with the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques a few weeks ago. 

One of the project’s main goals is to maintain the health and safety of the mosque’s visitors.

He added that last week saw 49 SRCA volunteers working at the Grand Mosque and assisting people. They treated 30 conditions, with five people transferred to hospital to receive medical care. 

He praised the performance of the volunteer teams, thanking and supporting them for their sincere efforts.