Coop Netherlands has announced that it is installing AEDs (automated external defibrillators) outside its supermarkets in association with the Dutch Red Cross.
The retailer has already installed its first AED outside Coop Dunnink in De Wijk.
The move aims to improve the safety of consumers in and around Coop stores, as it is a life-saving device for people experiencing a sudden cardiac arrest.
Coop and the Dutch Red Cross aim to install around 50 AEDs by the end of this year.
National aid and association management director of the Dutch Red Cross, Joke van Lonkhuijzen, commented, “As the Red Cross, we think it is important that people can help each other. We, therefore, argue that as many AEDs as possible should [...] be available in the Netherlands.
"Thanks to this promotion [by Coop], more AEDs will soon be accessible to everyone. With this, we can save lives."
Accessible To All
General director of Coop, Fred Bosch, said, "The aim is that all 315 stores will be provided with an AED [...] by the end of 2020. We have consciously opted for an AED for the neighbourhood that is placed on the outside of a Coop supermarket. It belongs to all local residents, who therefore have access to it 24 hours a day."
Coop and Red Cross have collaborated for years to collect money for the Coop Red Cross Fund by organising various campaigns, the retailer said.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
