The British Heart Foundation has identified 10 areas of the UK where people face a higher risk of dying because defibrillators are too far away. In rural West Tyrone, the average time to retrieve a defibrillator is 19 minutes and 20 seconds, a delay that can sharply reduce someone's chances of surviving a cardiac arrest.
The BHF describes these locations as "defibrillator deserts". A cardiac arrest happens when the heart suddenly stops pumping blood around the body. It is a medical emergency that often has no warning signs, and quick treatment can be the difference between life and death. A heart attack is different: it happens when an artery is blocked, stopping vital blood supply from reaching the heart.
Early CPR or defibrillator treatment can more than double a person's chance of surviving a cardiac arrest. For every minute that goes by without CPR and defibrillation, the chance of survival drops by up to 10%. Currently, only around one in 10 people who have a cardiac arrest outside hospital survive, according to the BHF.
The 10 UK defibrillator deserts
The areas flagged by the BHF are:
- Barking and Dagenham
- Liverpool
- Southampton
- Nottingham
- Wrexham
- Newport
- Airdrie, Hamilton and Motherwell
- Bonnybridge, Croy and Cumbernauld
- West Tyrone
- Cusher
In rural West Tyrone, the average time it takes to retrieve a defibrillator is 19 minutes and 20 seconds, potentially cutting people's risk of surviving a cardiac arrest.
Funding programme relaunched
The BHF is urging leaders in these areas to apply for the Community Defibrillator Funding Programme to get one of the 400 defibrillators available. The awarded defibrillators will be registered on The Circuit, the national defibrillator network that helps emergency services locate devices when needed.
The Circuit contains the locations of more than 120,000 defibrillators across the UK, but these devices are not evenly distributed. In some areas, people are left too far from the nearest defibrillator, creating a "defibrillator desert".
BHF: every second counts
Sam Kennard of the BHF said: "When someone has a cardiac arrest, every second counts, and quick access to a defibrillator gives someone the best possible chance of survival before emergency help arrives.
"We've made great progress in placing more defibrillators in areas that need them, but there's still so many communities, including some of the most deprived parts of the UK, which are still too far away from the nearest lifesaving device that can have devastating consequences.
"That's why we're thrilled to relaunch our community defibrillator funding programme - to bring more defibrillators into the communities that need them most and hopefully save more lives from cardiac arrest."
