The National Governance Association (NGA) is proud to be working in association with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) to raise awareness of the importance of registering defibrillators on The Circuit – the national defibrillator network. The BHF will be addressing delegates at NGA’s Conference taking place in Birmingham on 12th July 2024.

NGA is now calling on schools to register their defibrillators onto The Circuit to make them visible to ambulance services in the ultimate medical emergency. This could be the difference between life and death in the event of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Every minute without CPR and defibrillation reduces the chance of survival by up to 10%.

A school defibrillator that was registered on The Circuit has already saved a life in their local community, in Kent.

BHF, Resuscitation Council UK, NHS England, St John Ambulance, and the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives worked with all fourteen NHS ambulance services to develop The Circuit. The BHF and its partner organisations are encouraging schools with a defibrillator to register it immediately, so ambulance services know where to find the device in an emergency.

Over 10,000 schools have already registered their defibrillators, however 12,000 are still to register. Schools can check whether their defibrillator is registered by visiting DefibFinder.uk. It takes less than 5 minutes to register a defibrillator and there is no cost to register.

With over 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests each year in the UK and a survival rate of less than one in ten, quick CPR and defibrillation is vital to improve survival rates.

Simon Dunn, Head of The Circuit Operations at the British Heart Foundation, said:
“We’re thrilled to be working with the NGA to raise awareness of the lifesaving difference registering a school defibrillator could make.
We would like to thank the thousands of schools that have already registered their defibrillators and urge all schools that own defibrillators to register them on The Circuit. This simple action could save lives.”

Emma Knights, NGAs co-chief executive, said:
" We are proud to collaborate with the British Heart Foundation to emphasise the importance of registering defibrillators on The Circuit. This initiative can significantly enhance the safety of our school communities and the broader public. Ensuring that the locations of defibrillators are known and accessible to first-aiders and ambulance services in times of emergency could be the difference between life and death.
We urge all schools and boards to take this vital step to help save lives. The importance of defibrillators was reinforced to me recently when someone I know had his life saved. ”

About The Circuit

The Circuit maps public access defibrillators in the UK, so ambulance services can direct bystanders to the nearest defibrillator in the event of a cardiac arrest – the ultimate medical emergency. If a defibrillator isn’t registered the ambulance service can’t see it when 999 is called, and the opportunity to save a life could be missed.

To register your defibrillator, visit The Circuit website