Ambulance services are appealing for the public’s help to find 70,000 defibrillator devices scattered in community locations across the UK.
The machines can be a life-saver for people having a cardiac arrest.
The emergency services, helped by Ordnance Survey and the British Heart Foundation, want to map the locations.
It would mean 999 call operators could direct people to their nearest defibrillator to fetch and use before an ambulance can arrive.
The Circuit is an online database that the emergency services use to log precisely where the defibrillators are. It’s updated every minute so that the information is timely and correct.
The location of 30,000 community defibrillators is known, but an estimated 70,000 devices are not yet registered – which is where the public can help.
If you are in charge of an organisation that has one, make sure you register the device with The Circuit. If you know of locations of any please ask if they’re registered.
Ordnance Survey can give it a Unique Property Reference Number to identify the precise location.
This is far more accurate than postcodes and should help save more lives.
Speedy care is vital if someone is having a cardiac arrest.
Every minute without CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and defibrillation reduces the chances of survival. Using a defibrillator can double the chance of survival in the event of a cardiac arrest.
Many defibrillators are never used because people don’t know where they are or how to access them, says the ambulance service.
Defibrillators check the heart rhythm and will only tell you to give a shock if it is needed. You can’t shock someone accidentally. Strictly speaking you don’t need training and can follow the clear instructions on the device but it’s been shown that public confidence in using them increases significantly when some training has been received, such as CPR Counts provides for free… Application Forms For Courses
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