EEAST celebrates 100,000 defibrillator goal – but aims for 10,000 in our region

British Heart Foundation is celebrating 100,000 defibrillators being registered on a national defibrillator network.

These life-saving devices can help get the heart beating again when someone is in cardiac arrest.

Defibrillators and good Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) can make a huge difference for someone surviving a cardiac arrest outside of hospital.

The Circuit national defibrillator network aims to map every defibrillator in the UK so 999 services can direct members of the public to it. The Circuit also helps people maintain and look after defibrillators by sending reminders to check the device is ready.

EEAST is joining the BHF's celebrations with a campaign to have 10,000 defibrillators registered in the six counties of the East of England region.

There are currently 9, 400 defibrillators, but the 10k target could easily reached if unregistered defibrillators owned by schools, pubs, community centres and other organisations were added to the database.

Dr Simon Walsh is Medical Director at EEAST and represents the National Ambulance Services Medical Directors' Group on The Circuit’s National Advisory Board. He said:

“The cost of buying a defibrillator has dropped in recent years, so many organisations now own them. But for it to be able to save a life you need to do three simple things:

1. Register your defibrillator on The Circuit - unless its registered, our call handlers can’t direct people to it, and it only takes five minutes.
2. Ensure it is maintained and its batteries are changed regularly - or else it might not be ready when it’s really needed.
3. Keep its status updated on The Circuit.

If your defibrillator is ever used it will be marked as out of service so that, in an emergency, people aren’t directed to a machine that is not ready. After use, your defibrillator needs to be checked, the battery and any disposable parts replaced – and its status updated on The Circuit. That way we will know it’s back in service.”

Find out more and register on The Circuit at EEAST’s defibrillator page.

You don’t need to be trained to use a defibrillator, but if you would like some free training in your community on how to perform Basic Life Support (BLS) and use a defibrillator, please contact volunteer@eastamb.nhs.uk