Shropshire Star

Call for defibrillator owners in Shropshire to register devices on new national database

Defibrillator owners in the West Midlands are being urged to register their devices on a new national database so that more lives can be saved.

Published
Last updated

The call to register devices on The Circuit has been made by bosses at West Midlands Ambulance Service.

Each year in the West Midlands, there are around 3,700 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, yet just seven per cent of those patients will survive.

However, if the patient gets immediate CPR and early defibrillation the chance of survival can more than double.

Every minute that passes without CPR or the use of a defibrillator reduces the chances of survival by up to 10 per cent.

Sadly, the UK’s low survival rate is in part because public access defibrillators are used in less than one in 10 out of hospital cardiac arrests.

This is often because 999 call assessors aren’t always aware that a defibrillator is available nearby, because the ambulance service hasn’t been told about it.

If they don’t know it is there, they can’t direct someone at the scene to retrieve it while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

To help save more lives, WMAS is urging people who own and maintain defibrillators in places such as offices, communities, shopping centres and leisure centres, as well as in public places – to register them on a database called The Circuit.

The national defibrillator network is run by the British Heart Foundation with the backing of NHS England.

The Circuit was introduced in the West Midlands last year and allows the service to see defibrillators that are registered.

It is estimated that there are thousands of defibrillators across the region which are still to be registered on The Circuit.

Anthony Marsh, chief executive of WMAS, said: “We know from other countries like Denmark that where there are more defibrillators available, more lives can be saved.

"We also know that there are potentially thousands of defibrillators in the West Midlands that we simply don’t know about.

“By registering your defibrillator on The Circuit, we will be able to direct members of the public to them when there is a cardiac arrest nearby.

"By registering your defib, you will become part of a lifesaving team.”

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.

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.