Henry Smith MP has welcomed the news that the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and the Department of Health have launched a £1 million partnership to make public access defibrillators and CPR training more widely available in communities across England. 

Henry said;

“It’s good news that the BHF and the Department of Health are working together for a second year to provide £1 million of investment for hundreds of defibrillators as well as training in CPR to communities around the country.

“When someone suffers a cardiac arrest, their heart stops pumping blood around their body and they’ll die within minutes without treatment. For every minute without defibrillation, a person’s chance of survival decreases by around ten per cent.

“Learning CPR and an increase in openly accessible defibrillators will empower people in Crawley to know what to do in an emergency and save lives. I encourage all organisations to check if they’re eligible to apply for this funding.”

Over 700 defibrillators were placed across the country last year, thanks to the first £1 million of Government funding. The charity hopes to increase availability of defibrillators by a similar number this year. So far, the BHF has helped fund over 14,000 lifesaving defibrillators in towns, cities and villages across the UK.

Latest figures from the BHF show just 22 per cent of people in the UK would use a defibrillator themselves in an emergency. The charity warns this lack of awareness and confidence could be wasting valuable time and costing lives.

The BHF will now welcome applications for public access defibrillators from groups such as charities, social enterprises, community groups and commercial organisations working in partnership with the NHS Ambulance Service.

Each award will come with the BHF’s CPR and defibrillator awareness training programme, Call Push Rescue, allowing many more people in local communities to gain the skills and confidence to save a life.

Organisations can check if they are eligible, and apply for the free community package including up to five public access defibrillators and a Call Push Rescue training kit, by visiting: www.bhf.org.uk/defibengland