Region Hovedstaden says a four-year first-aid campaign in 13 almene housing areas around Copenhagen has sharply increased the number of residents trained in lifesaving CPR.
Far more residents in public housing areas in the Copenhagen region can now perform lifesaving first aid, DR reported on September 12, 2026. The results come from an effort by Region Hovedstaden that has run for the past four years.
The campaign targets neighborhoods at risk of ending up on the government’s parallel-society list. Among other things, residents are taught the basic sequence of 30 chest compressions and two rescue breaths, and to call 112.
This year, 726 residents from a total of 13 housing areas in the capital region completed a first-aid course, according to DR. Last year the figure was 148. Bellahøj in Copenhagen is one of the areas included in the effort.
Survival gap between housing areas
Eight percent of people survive a cardiac arrest in these public housing areas when other people are present. In other housing areas, the survival rate is 22 percent. The figures were also published by Region Hovedstaden in a press release distributed via Ritzau.
Carolina Malta Hansen is a cardiologist at Herlev Hospital and researches the emergency response system in Region Hovedstaden. As she told DR, more people suffer cardiac arrest in these areas, and fewer of them survive.
Per Malta Hansen, it is therefore important that residents become more aware that they can give first aid, seek help and call 112. Bystander response in the first minutes is central to the initiative’s stated purpose.
Residents taking the course
One of the residents who has taken part is Klaus Iversen, who lives in Bellahøj in Copenhagen. He completed a first-aid course and told DR he is glad he participated.
According to Iversen, he can now react if someone nearby needs cardiopulmonary resuscitation. He is described by DR as one of the people who want to change the survival statistics in the housing areas.
The training effort focuses on skills that can be used before professional help arrives. Denmark’s emergency system has been the subject of separate reporting on ambulance response times and on alert systems for first responders.
Region Hovedstaden’s press release, issued through Ritzau, states that markedly more people in the 13 areas have now learned to save lives. The region has not announced an end date for the effort.
The 13 housing areas are located in the greater Copenhagen area. DR names Bellahøj as one of them and does not list the remaining areas.
