A 51-year-old man collapsed and died in a commercial centre in the south of Tenerife yesterday afternoon, despite the efforts of paramedics to recover him and save his life, as reported by the Emergency Services Coordination Centre (CECOES).
The tragic incident took place at around 1:20pm yesterday afternoon (Thursday) at the Coral Mar Shopping Centre in Costa del Silencio. The man, a local resident of the area, entered a shop with chest pains and shortly after collapsed on the floor.
CECOES received an alert of a suspected cardiac arrest and immediately dispatched the necessary emergency resources to the commercial centre. In less than five minutes, the Local Police arrived at the scene and found the man lying unconscious on the ground, so started administering CPR.
Just afterwards, another patrol car from the Local Police arrived at the centre, and the officers, witnessing the actions of their colleagues, cordoned off the area from pedestrians and customers of the shopping centre.
The situation was now critical, and the speed of medical resources was crucial to saving the man's life. In just a few moments, paramedics arrived at the scene and took over from the policemen with advanced techniques to try and revive the man who was still in cardiac arrest.
Unfortunately, despite trying for over an hour, the man did not regain his vital signs even though at one point it seemed that the situation was improving, but he did not stabilise and his vital signs plummeted once again.
At 2:26pm, the doctor present at the incident had to certify the man's death and prepared the corresponding medical report and death certificate. The Local Police officers were left with the most unpleasant task: informing the friends and family of the deceased about the tragic news.
The deceased man's sister arrived at the scene and was informed of what had happened. She was able to briefly 'say goodbye' to her brother's body and collect his belongings, before it was taken away for an autopsy, while being comforted by officers.
The report concludes that “the events that occurred are another example provided by the officers of the Local Police of Arona, who, while fulfilling their duty to ensure security in their municipality, offer the public a humane and exemplary treatment in difficult situations."
