MORE THAN 2,700 Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in the West Midlands are not registered for people to be able to find them when they are needed.
The situation has prompted West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) to launch its ‘Let Us See Your AED’ social media campaign.
The drive encourages those responsible for the defibs to make sure the details are listed on the British Heart Foundation’s ‘The Circuit’.
Data shows there are over 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK per year and less than eight per cent of people survive to the point of hospital discharge.
Every minute CPRs and AEDs are not used, the chance of survival decreases by 10 per cent.
The ambulance uses The Circuit to help direct calls to the nearest AED within 500m of the incident.
There are currently 2,778 unregistered AEDs so the service cannot access them.
West Midlands Ambulance Service’s Paramedic Practice and Patient Safety Director, Nick Henry said: “It is vital that we get as many people as possible to register AEDs on The Circuit.
“Having AEDs available to bystanders in a cardiac arrest situation, saves lives. However, for us to be able to instruct the caller on how to gain access to these AEDs they must be registered.
“It only takes a few minutes to register and could make all the difference in a life-or-death situation.”
Visit West Midlands Ambulance Services’ social media pages on @OfficialWMAS and follow #LetUsSeeYourAED for more information about the ‘Let Us See Your AED’ campaign.
