Call for all emergency vehicles to carry life-saving defibrillators

A group of MPs and Lords has called on the government to mandate all emergency services to carry defibrillators in their vehicles to improve survival from cardiac arrest.

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Defibrillators met this week to launch a Chain of Survival National Call to Action urging the government to take decisive steps to improve defibrillator access, CPR training, and cardiac arrest survival rates across the UK.

The National Call to Action contains five recommendations including one focused on equipping all emergency vehicles with defibrillators.

“First responders are critical in cardiac arrest emergencies, but many emergency service vehicles currently lack defibrillators.”

To improve this, the group says that all police cars, ambulance fleet and fire service vehicles should ensure that this life saving equipment is always available.

The APPG is led by Steve Darling, the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Torbay.

“We urge Parliament and government to prioritise these recommendations and ensure that life-saving measures are implemented nationwide. By investing in education, infrastructure and care pathways, we can make significant strides toward improving sudden cardiac arrest survival rates.”

National Call to Action.

Publishing the National Call to Action earlier this week, the APPG shared statistics on cardiac arrest: 40,000 out of hospital cardiac arrests occur annually in the UK and that survival rates “remain at just 10% due to delays in CPR and defibrillation. Every minute without defibrillation reduces survival rates by 10%.”

To improve access to defibrillators, the National Call to Action urges the government to mandate all publicly accessible and new buildings. The group suggests that this could be achieved through existing legislation making this achievable in a short time period.

Further recommendations include standardising CPR and defibrillator training in schools, introducing targeted screening for cardiac conditions and improving post cardiac arrest carea and mental health support.

The event in Parliament was supported by Resuscitation Council UK, AEDdonate, Defib Plus Ltd and Stryker.

Read more about the Chain of Survival National Call to Action and how to raise awareness with legislators and other bodies.