Swiss prostitutes trained to use defibrillators

The Telegraph, UK
18 February 2010 − Brothel owners in the Lugano area say electric shock treatment to restart customer's hearts is needed because so many elderly customers are using their services. The most recent victim was a pensioner, thought to be having fun with the help of anti-impotence medication.

His death followed a series of other incidents, some fatal, in which heart attacks have claimed brothel customers in the area. The owner of one sex club said: "Having customers die on us isn't exactly good publicity".

There are now 38 sex clubs and brothel in the Lugano area. And more are planned, according to Italian daily Corriere della Sera, in order to accommodate the thousands of customers who pour over the border from Italy, where brothels are illegal. Around 80 per cent of the men who pay for sex in the area are thought to be Italian.

The sex trade in the pretty, lakeside Swiss town is also being fuelled by prostitutes from South America and Eastern Europe who enter the country via Italy. Local health experts are said to have backed the plans to stock defibrillators in sex clubs and brothels.

Defibrillators work by delivering a controlled electric shock to the heart to restore a normal heartbeat, after it has stopped. According to the British Heart Foundation: "Modern defibrillators are becoming increasingly quick and easy for the lay person to use, which can mean the difference between life and death".

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Quotes of the Month

Seeing the police members at the welcoming event together with sex workers activists and supporters, hearing the fact that 90% of reported cases between 2005 -2009 are solved and perpetrators are convicted, and that rape rate over the last year was 40%, was a real inspiration and hope that in a period of time, trough a committed work we can get there too..
--- Marija Tosheva (HOPS, Macedonia) about IHRA-2010, Liverpool.