The CNP Assurances Foundation is issuing a new call for projects targeting regional authorities which are acquiring cardiac defibrillators and providing people with training in how to use them.

The CNP Assurances Foundation was set up in 1993 to promote, support and initiate general-interest initiatives and projects in healthcare.

Since 2009, the CNP Assurances Foundation has been helping to improve treatment for people who have had a heart attack and is encouraging towns and villages throughout France to install defibrillators in public places, teaching as many people as possible about the appropriate emergency procedures to follow as part of a civic-minded approach.

Within the framework of this initiative, it has funded more than 4000 cardiac defibrillators and started awareness-raising initiatives, teaching people how to use them in more than 2900 towns and local authorities.

Every year in France, between 40,000 and 60,000 people die of heart attacks that they suffer outside of hospital. That's ten times more than the numbers of people who die on the roads. In France, the heart-attack survival rate is between 2 and 3%. This figure increases to 40% in a number of European countries where people know more about CPR and where public places are better equipped with automated external defibrillators (AEDs). Rapid intervention, which is possible if people know CPR and how to use a defibrillator, would save between 5000 and 10,000 lives every year.

Since a law was passed on 4 May 2007 in France, anybody may use an automated or semi-automated external defibrillator. Rolling out defibrillators more widely and training people how to perform CPR are therefore a public health requirement.

The CNP Assurances Foundation has today announced a new call for projects targeting regional authorities which are taking action to acquire cardiac defibrillators and providing people with training in how to use them.

The call for projects: eligibility conditions

The project will need to be managed by a municipal authority, an urban community, a part-public, part-private partnership, a mayors' association or a commune, and must be spearheaded by a project manager.

The Foundation will give preference to joint projects (from municipal authorities, urban communities, mayors' associations, etc.) which can optimise resources and take advantage of discounted rates on devices.

It must:
- Propose the installation of automated, semi-automated or fully automatic external defibrillators,

- Involve an information and awareness-raising initiative, similar to an “Alert, Massage, Defibrillate” type initiative.  

- Lead to a concrete project the following year, should the CNP Assurances Foundation's Board of Directors select it

The mechanism of support provided by the CNP Assurances Foundation

The CNP Assurances Foundation may provide financial support:
- For purchasing one or several semi-automated or fully automatic defibrillators, provided for self-service use (excluding installation costs). The Foundation's funding will be for the total number of defibrillators provided within the framework of the project;

- And an information and awareness-raising initiative, similar to an "Alert, Massage, Defibrillate" type initiative.

The CNP Assurances Foundation will not fund:
- Projects which have already been implemented (there will be no retroactive funding – the dates on invoices must be after the date on which the Foundation's board of directors met to select the project)

- Costs associated with installing and maintaining the defibrillators,

- Level I prévention et secours civique (civic prevention and first-aid) type training programmes, which are broader in scope than the "Alert, Massage, Defibrillate" type information and awareness-raising type programmes.

To submit a project

Download the application pack from the web site ( cnp.fr_cardiac defibrillators project) or request it by emailing fondation@cnp.fr
Send the application pack by post to Fondation CNP Assurances – 4, place Raoul Dautry – 75716 Paris Cedex 15 AND an electronic version (an un-protected Word version) to fondation@cnp.fr

Applications must be submitted before 3 May 2019.

The Foundation will give preference to joint projects involving several towns or villages (from municipal authorities, urban communities, mayors' associations, etc.) which can optimise resources and take advantage of discounted rates on equipment.

The project's selection criteria :

1. Only complete, correctly filled in applications will be looked at.
2. The Foundation will give preference to joint projects (from municipal authorities, urban communities, mayors' associations, etc.) which can optimise resources and take advantage of discounted rates on equipment.
3. The Foundation will pay special attention to projects involving remote, mountain or rural villages, as well as towns a long way from emergency services or which have no emergency or healthcare professionals.
4. Equipment and awareness-raising costs must be reasonable. The Foundation has found significant disparities in costs and would encourage authorities to exercise vigilance regarding the prices they are quoted.
5. The devices must be installed in extremely busy areas.
6. It would be appreciated if the authority could work alongside healthcare and emergency professionals (emergency medical aid services, Fire Brigade, local doctors, etc.) in designing and implementing the project.
7. Devices’ technical spécifications : The defibrillator must bear EC (EU) marking, and must be as straightforward to use as possible. It may be semi-automated or fully automated.
8. Maintenance : The authority undertakes to regularly maintain the device(s) that the Foundation funds. Under no circumstances may the CNP Assurances Foundation be held responsible for the way in which the devices funded within the framework of the project are used. Nor may it be held liable for any defects in the equipment that the authority undertakes to keep maintained.
9. Project tracking, communication.

All projects supported by the CNP Assurances Foundation must be tracked and publicised via a communications initiative.

To ensure that the CNP Assurances Foundation is able to monitor the project's financial details, the beneficiary must appoint a project manager who will undertake to:
- Provide the Foundation with supporting documents (quotes, invoices, etc.) detailing how the financial contribution is used,

- Inform the Foundation of any incidences of the devices being used to save a life.

The following requirements must be adhered to in all communications initiatives:
- The partnership with the Foundation must be mentioned in all communications initiatives, as well as on the town's website, the town newsletters, flyers, posters, maps, etc.

- The Foundation's logo must feature on all documents to do with the project,

- The aforementioned documents must be submitted to the Foundation before they are produced/printed so that the way in which the logo is used can be checked for compliance with the graphic charter,

- A cheque representing the Foundation's financial support will be handed over on the day that the device(s) is/are inaugurated. This will be organised by the beneficiary or will be sent to the local authority.