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Compulsory in the places welcoming the public since 2018, defibrillators are now the target of traffickers. Flights are multiplying, with sometimes dramatic consequences.
The defibrillators, used to revive the victims in the event of cardiac arrest, are now stolen in public places. In Indre-et-Loire, in the small village of Marray, 500 inhabitants, the machine disappeared a month ago. “At the beginning, it was a question: how can we steal a defibrillator? After, it is necessarily annoyance because it is a first aid device, which is used to save people”, Comments Philippe Capon, the mayor of the city. During each flight – two in one year – the municipality must pay: 1,177.20 euros in this case.
The consequences are sometimes dramatic. In Sarthe, an agricultural worker died during the harvest in 2023. Here, the battery of the defibrillator was stolen. Olivier Corbin, the boss, shares his “anger“.”It is still materials that are made available for people’s survival “, he recalls.
Thieves resell the defibrillators in the black market. On the Internet, suspect announcements offer aircraft five to ten times cheaper. In Île-de-France, it is the defibrillators of the stations that are attacked. Since the summer of 2024, 60 aircraft have been stolen, and 20 people arrested.
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