Burgas University Hospital is holding a free first aid course on Thursday, 12 November. It will focus on the automated external defibrillator (AED), the hospital said.

The session runs from 2pm to 4pm in the lecture hall of the Therapy Building, the hospital's tall building. Anyone can come, and there is no need to sign up in advance.

Dr Svetoslav Todorov, a neurosurgeon with a doctorate in medicine and the hospital's deputy director, will lead the course. He will show what to do until a doctor arrives when someone faints, loses consciousness, stops breathing or faces another emergency. The programme also covers cardiac arrest, when the heart stops, CPR and how to use an AED.

An AED checks the heart rhythm and, if needed, gives an electric shock that restores normal function. People with no medical training can use it, because it gives clear voice instructions step by step. The hospital says it can save a life if used quickly and correctly.

The hospital says the actions of bystanders often decide whether a person survives. It wants more people to be able to help with confidence in the critical minutes before a medical team arrives.

On 3 November we reported that Tsarevo council was installing a new automated external defibrillator in each of Lozenets and Ahtopol. The one in Lozenets was placed in the Administrative Service Centre, and the one in Ahtopol in the medical office on Sveti Nikola street.

Police officers are expressly invited to the course. From next year, police cars will also be fitted with defibrillators.