The UK All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Defibrillators published its ‘Concluding Report’ for its ‘Inquiry into defibrillator access and sudden cardiac arrest survivorship in the UK’. The APPG for Defibrillators undertook a detailed inquiry to understand the impact of out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest on society and public services, as well as the need for improved access to defibrillators.
Key findings:
- Existing AEDs are expensive, which limits their adoption and availability;
- AEDs aren’t where they need to be, with 80% of cardiac arrests occurring at home; and
- New initiatives are training school students in CPR and defibrillator use. Future steps could be taken by incorporating first aid and CPR training as part of driver training.
Report recommendations
- Improve defibrillator access by considering mandating them in all public buildings, new homes and emergency vehicles;
- Monitor the mandatory rollout of AEDs in schools program (defib4schools) to ensure every pupil has access to AEDs;
- Mandate defibrillator training as part of CPR training already included in the school curriculum.
The Government should encourage and welcome advancements in defibrillator technology and promote and advance new technology in first aid assistance, including initiatives like GoodSAM.
Conclusion
The findings and recommendations of the APPG on defibrillators are overwhelmingly positive for Rapid Response Revival and CellAED and include mandating AEDs be placed in new homes and emergency vehicles. The findings add to a growing list of government initiatives and policy changes from around the world, recognising failures of existing emergency response and AED policies. The group’s findings perfectly align with CellAED’s affordability, useability and portability. For more details on government initiatives, see our initiation of coverage report published on 11th March 2024.
