All emergency service vehicles should carry a life-saving defibrillator, MPs have demanded.
They added only one in 11 police cars have access to the cardiac arrest equipment. The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Defibrillators said all new public buildings should have the devices too. In a report today, it calls for an increase in defibrillators across the country.
Ministers are being urged to ensure the kits are as freely available as fire extinguishers. The group of MPs has held a year-long inquiry into the availability of defibrillators. It has heard from witnesses including Naomi Rees-Issitt, who lost son Jamie Rees, of Wolvey, Warks, in 2022. The 18-year-old had a cardiac arrest at a New Year’s Eve party at a friend’s house.
A policeman arrived as they waited for an ambulance but he did not have access to a defibrillator. The nearest one was at a school that was shut. More than 100,000 people suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the UK each year but just one in 10 survive. Tory Jonathan Gullis, chair of the MP group, said: “We must do more to ensure lives are not being lost. This report underscores the urgent need for action to improve defibrillator access and sudden cardiac arrest survival rates.
“I’ve heard tragic stories of people dying because police cars turning up to the scene don’t have these vital devices. It’s time that we make sure all emergency services are equipped with a defibrillator and know how to use them so they can save lives.”
The Mirror has been campaigning for a law change to get defibrillators installed in all public places. The devices provide a short electric shock to jolt the heart back into its rhythm. An audio command tells people how to use them.