Schools, community groups and organisations across West Norfolk are being encouraged to register life-saving defibrillators and make them publicly accessible.
The call is coming from the East of England Ambulance NHS Trust to link in with Restart A Heart Day on October 16.
It says the machines can play a big role in helping to improve survival from a cardiac arrest if it happens away from a hospital.
The trust believes there are over 11,000 defibrillators that are registered but still a number that aren’t which makes it hard for the emergency services to find them.
The British Heart Foundation’s national defibrillator database, The Circuit, helps 999 call handlers direct bystanders to the nearest AED in an emergency. You can check if your local defibrillator is registered by visiting: https://www.defibfinder.uk/ If you know of a defibrillator that isn’t listed, you can register it online via www.thecircuit.uk.
Liam Sagi, the National Strategic Lead for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest at the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives and a Critical Care Paramedic at EEAST, says: “Every defibrillator that isn’t registered is a missed opportunity to save a life.
“We know that early defibrillation is critical in cardiac arrest, and that’s only possible if 999 call handlers know where the nearest device is. Schools, community centres, and businesses can make a real difference by registering their defibrillators and making them publicly accessible.”
