Words by Smiley Team
A group of charities and health organisations are urging defibrillator owners to register their devices on a new national database, called The Circuit, which could help save thousands of lives from cardiac arrests in the coming years.
There are more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests every year in the UK, but fewer than one in ten people survive. Every minute that passes without CPR or defibrillation reduces the chances of survival by up to 10 per cent in some instances, but immediate CPR and defibrillation can more than double the chances of survival.
The British Heart Foundation (BHF), Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) St John Ambulance and Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE), warn that the UK’s low survival rate is likely to be in part because public access defibrillators are used in less than one in 10 out of hospital cardiac arrests.
To help save more lives, the BHF, RCUK, St John Ambulance and AACE are urging people who look after defibrillators in places such as offices, communities, shopping centres and leisure centres, as well as in public places, to register them on a pioneering database called The Circuit: The national defibrillator network.
While the 14 ambulance services have previously had their own regional databases, The Circuit will eventually replace these with a new national database that lets the ambulance services see defibrillators across the UK once it has been rolled out. This will allow them to direct people to the nearest defibrillator when somebody is having a cardiac arrest, wherever they are.
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The Circuit, which is already live in 12 of the 14 ambulance service regions across the UK and will become nationwide soon, could help to save thousands of lives – but it is vital that as many defibrillators as possible are registered on the database for it to work effectively.
Those who own and maintain defibrillators, also called defibrillator guardians, can still register their devices in areas that are not yet live on The Circuit, ready for when their ambulance services come online.
Dr Charmaine Griffiths, chief executive of the British Heart Foundation, said: “Every second counts when someone has a cardiac arrest and, alongside CPR, prompt use of a defibrillator is critical in giving them the best chance of survival. To put it simply, knowing where the nearest defibrillator is could be the difference between life and death.
“The Circuit is pioneering technology which will help emergency services direct bystanders more quickly to a defibrillator when someone collapses with a cardiac arrest. But for The Circuit to save lives, it is vital that the tens of thousands of unregistered defibrillators across the UK are put on the system.
“If you, or somebody you know is a defibrillator guardian, then we urge you to register your device on The Circuit. You could help save a life.”
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Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for NHS England, said: “Access to a defibrillator, along with initial recognition of symptoms, early CPR and post resuscitation care can mean the difference between life and death for a person who is going into cardiac arrest.”
“The NHS is aiming to triple the out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rate and properly registering the details of defibrillators is vital so ambulance services can quickly locate and deploy them when needed.”
It’s free to register your defibrillator onto The Circuit, and you only have to do it once. You can also register multiple defibrillators if you are the guardian to more than one. Visit TheCircuit.UK for more information or to register your defibrillator.
