27 March 2024Sponsored News Item
It takes less than 5 minutes to register a defibrillator on The Circuit – the national defibrillator network – yet it could be the difference between life and death. Help us ensure your community defibrillators have the best chance of saving a life.
Did you know that there are over 87,000 defibrillators registered on The Circuit? Yet despite this, it’s estimated that tens of thousands of defibrillators are still unknown to the ambulance services.
Please help us to ensure defibrillators in your community are registered. It takes less than 5 minutes to register a defibrillator and is there is no cost to register. It could make a lifesaving difference.
Why is it important to register a defibrillator on The Circuit?
Thousands of families in the UK are left devastated by cardiac arrest every year.
Early use of a defibrillator with CPR can more than double the chances of survival. But if ambulance services don’t know where they are, they can’t direct people to them in an emergency. That’s where The Circuit comes in.
What is The Circuit?
British Heart Foundation, Resuscitation Council UK, NHS England, St John Ambulance, and the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives worked with all fourteen ambulance services to develop the national defibrillator network known as The Circuit.
The Circuit helps emergency call handlers to direct bystanders to their nearest defibrillator when 999 is called in the ultimate medical emergency. It could make the difference between life and death.
We know that there are over 13,000 unregistered defibrillators in schools in England*. It is estimated that there are thousands of unregistered defibrillators in sports clubs and community facilities across the UK – places that typically have defibrillators.
How can you help?
You can make a lifesaving difference by ensuring your council’s defibrillators are registered and encouraging schools, organisations and community groups to register theirs:
- Encourage your community to register their defibrillators.
We have produced this letter and digital leaflet to support you to introduce The Circuit across your community.
- For defibrillators that your council is responsible for
You can check whether defibrillators are currently registered – visit DefibFinder.uk
If you are the Guardian of the defibrillator(s) then please register on The Circuit
If you are not the Guardian, please ask the Guardian to register. The Guardian will receive reminders to check the defibrillator status, along with other updates when pads are about to expire.
If you have any questions about registering your council’s defibrillators contact Sarah Black, Account Manager, The Circuit – [email protected]
Whether a defibrillator is available in an external cabinet 24/7, or limited hours for example during school hours in term time, please help us to ensure that it is registered. It could make the difference for someone and their loved ones.
Thank you for your support.
Mrs Jo Tricker PSLCC, Town Clerk shares why registering their defibrillators was a priority for Polegate Town Council.
‘’A few of our councillors are former paramedics or first responders. Defibrillators were also important to our community with a group of residents campaigning for and buying defibs. We quickly realised that if they weren’t registered on The Circuit, the ambulance service wouldn’t know where they were in an emergency. We adopted the defibs from the group to manage as community assets.
The Circuit also helps us maintain our defibrillators, with reminders for status checks, and notifications when a defibrillator has been deployed – which they have been on a number of occasions.
The Circuit gives us peace of mind. If a defibrillator is not registered the ambulance service can’t see it – an opportunity to save a life could be missed.
We also encourage our local community – schools, train stations, sports clubs to register their defibrillators.’’
*Defibrillators were rolled out to over 22,000 schools across England. However, schools in the other nations may also have defibrillators.
© British Heart Foundation, 2024. Reproduced with kind permission of the British Heart Foundation
*Sponsored news content is written and provided by the supplier. The publishing of this piece does not imply endorsement or recommendation by SLCC for goods or services*
