Bouwinvest to Install Heart Defibrillators Across Dutch Residential Portfolio

Institutional real estate investment manager Bouwinvest is to install around 300 heart defibrillators in and around properties within its € 5.3 billion Dutch residential investment portfolio in a new partnership with City AED - the organisation driving a nationwide campaign to increase fast access to the equipment that can double survival chances in the event of a cardiac arrest.

Bouwinvest is the first company within the Dutch real estate investment sector to contribute to the establishment of a national AED (automatic external defibrillator) network, which it is estimated could save up to 2,500 lives every year in the Netherlands. The use of an AED offers the highest probability of survival within the first six minutes after a heart attack.

City AED handles the placement of the defibrillators in suitable locations and the subsequent maintenance programme to ensure the equipment is always operable. Installation of the AEDs across Bouwinvest’s portfolio will start towards the end of this year.

Michiel de Bruine, Director Dutch Residential Investments at Bouwinvest, said: “Cardiovascular disease accounts for around a quarter of all deaths in the Netherlands, many of those at home or nearby. Bouwinvest has one of the largest Dutch residential portfolios, so we saw the opportunity to save lives among our tenants and in local neighbourhoods by partnering with City AED. It is a cost-effective way of providing a vital emergency service on the doorstep and we hope our peers across the real estate industry will join us in this initiative.”