Making the Netherlands safer with neighbourhood defibrillators

For years, the Dutch Heart Foundation has been committed to making the Netherlands a ‘6-minute zone’: a nationwide network of civilian first responders’ and defibrillators that can be deployed within six minutes in the event of a cardiac arrest. It is important to draw constant attention to this in order to keep sufficient numbers of civilian first responders and defibrillators available. In residential areas, not enough defibrillators are yet available and so, the Heart Foundation launched the Neighbourhood defibrillators campaign, mobilising residents to crowdfund an defibrillators together and make their neighbourhood safer. Thanks to Philips and Univé Buurtfonds who sponsored the campaign, the price for the defibrillator is also attractive.

Bijl PR was approached to raise broad awareness for the campaign and activate people across the Netherlands. A strategic PR approach was essential to create awareness, generate media attention, and spark crowdfunding in neighborhoods.

Bijl PR developed a targeted media strategy to put the BuurtAED (i.e. neighbourhood defibrillator) campaign in the spotlight and encourage Dutch citizens to take action. The campaign kicked off with a compelling survey on defibrillator accessibility, shared through one national and twelve regional press releases and not unimportantly a personal media approach in collaboration with the Press team from the Heart Foundation. Continuous PR moments were created around new and successful defibrillator crowdfunding initiatives and the installation of new ddefibrillators.

By leveraging personal stories and a focused media approach—through national platforms as well as regional and local media—the campaign not only raised awareness but also directly motivated people to act.

The PR strategy led to both media attention and real engagement: residents actively participated in acquiring defibrillators together. The campaign delivered tangible results:

• During the campaign period (two months), more than one thousand (1,036) actions were initiated. Of these, 266 were completed.
• Millions of Dutch (171 million) citizens were reached through national and regional media.
• Major news platforms, such as NOS, RTL Nieuws, Radio 1 Journaal, Goedemorgen Nederland, and AD (including regional editions), covered the campaign.
• Regional media (including Noordhollands Dagblad and Omroep Zeeland) brought the issue closer to home for residents, increasing the likelihood of action amongst citizens.