Over 2,700 defibrillators in the West Midlands are not registered, recent research has revealed.
West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) has launched a social media campaign to encourage the registration of Automated External Defibrillators (AED) on British Heart Foundation’s ‘The Circuit’.
With over 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK each year, survival chances decrease by 10 per cent every minute CPR or an AED does not administer help is not administered.
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'The Circuit' is a critical tool for WMAS, helping direct callers to the closest available AED within a 500 metre radius of a cardiac arrest.
However, it can only indicate AEDs that are registered within the system, and currently, a staggering 2,778 AED's remain unlisted.
Nick Henry, the paramedic practice and patient safety director, said: "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."
The campaign, titled 'Let Us See Your AED', will also see the WMAS speak with the British Heart Foundation, research paramedic Josh Miller and Professor Gavin Perkins from the University of Warwick about the cruciality of registering AEDs on The Circuit.
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