A 38-YEAR-OLD man whose heart stopped is alive and in hospital, thanks to a built-in defibrillator in the Madrid shopping centre he was visiting.

A security guard in La Vaguada mall in the city’s Pilar district says he was automatically alerted when the man attempted to use the machine.

He then rushed to his aid and applied the defibrillator, which sends electric shocks through the heart to re-start it.

The guard explains a similar situation occurred in a nearby sports centre in January with a 54-year-old man who suffered a cardiac arrest.

When a public building has a defibrillator on site, if a person suffering from a heart condition attempts to use it, it sends an automatic signal to the local ambulance force and also to the security guards of the centre.

Security guards and other staff are trained to use the defibrillator so they can assist members of the public.

Public buildings all over Spain began to install defibrillators at the end of 2007 after the sudden death of Sevilla footballer Antonio Puerta from a cardiac arrest.