News

This week the British Heart Foundation, in partnership with the Resuscitation Council UK and the Scottish Ambulance Service, launched a campaign to encourage individuals who look after publicly accessible defibrillators across Scotland to register the defibrillator on The Circuit.

Early defibrillation can more than double a person’s chances of surviving an out of hospital cardiac arrest – but many defibrillators never get used because emergency services don’t know where they are or how to access them. With around 3,200 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests every year in Scotland, it’s crucial everyone who maintains a defibrillator registers their device on The Circuit to help save more lives.

Funded by the British Heart Foundation, and developed by Microsoft UK the Circuit, is the first ever national defibrillator network in the UK, that integrates with Ambulance dispatch centres to direct bystanders to the nearest defibrillator in case of a cardiac arrest. Currently, across the UK a defibrillator is used in only 1 in 10 incidents of cardiac arrest, but we know that immediate CPR and defibrillation can more than double the chances of survival.

It is estimated that there are tens of thousands of defibrillators across the UK which are still to be registered on the new system. To make sure opportunities to save lives aren’t being missed, the organisations are aiming to see 70,000 additional defibrillators unknown to The Circuit registered by the end of the year.

How you can help:

Tweet and post on Facebook to raise awareness: use the templates below to raise awareness of The Circuit and embed the attached infographic and The Circuit video. Choose an option and post on Facebook or Twitter.

Facebook:

Early defibrillation can more than double a person’s chances of surviving an out of hospital cardiac arrest – but many defibrillators never get used because emergency services don’t know where they are or how to access them. With around 3,200 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests every year in Scotland, it’s crucial everyone who maintains a defibrillator registers their device on The Circuit to help save more lives.

Twitter:

1. Are you in an organisation with a defibrillator? Does the ambulance service know it’s there? Putting it on the register could be the difference between life and death. https://www.bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/how-to-save-a-life/defibrillators/national-defibrillator-network-the-circuit #TheCircuit
2. The clock starts ticking the second someone suffers a cardiac arrest. CPR and defibrillation are key to survival. Save lives and register your defibrillator on The Circuit, connecting defibrillators to NHS ambulance services. https://www.bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/how-to-save-a-life/defibrillators/national-defibrillator-network-the-circuit #TheCircuit
3. Currently, only 1 in 10 people survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the UK. Let’s change that; register your defibrillator on The Circuit today.  Help connect @Scotambservice to defibrillators across Scotland. https://www.bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/how-to-save-a-life/defibrillators/national-defibrillator-network-the-circuit #TheCircuit

Best wishes, 
Jonathan

___
Jonathan Roden
Policy and Public Affairs Manager 
British Heart Foundation Scotland
The Cub​​e, 43a Leith Street
Edinburgh | EH1 3AT