Isle of Wight Ambulance Services celebrates being first ambulance trust to achieve 100% emergency ready defibrillators

After more than four years of hard work by our Island communities, volunteers and ambulance staff, the Isle of Wight Ambulance Service is delighted to share that it is the first ambulance service in the UK to achieve 100% of their registered defibrillators confirmed as ‘emergency ready’, and that the devices have all been checked within the past three months.

Being ‘emergency ready’ means that a defibrillator has been checked, confirmed as in working order and its status updated on The Circuit, the national defibrillator database. This database is used by ambulance services across the country to identify the nearest available Community Public Access Defibrillator (CPADs) to support someone facing an out of hospital cardiac arrest.

CPAD’s are cabinets usually located on the outside of a building that contain lifesaving equipment that can in an emergency be accessed 24/7. When someone collapses in cardiac arrest their heart has stopped beating normally, a defibrillator will analyse the heart rhythm and if required will deliver shock to help restore the heart’s rhythm.

On the Isle of Wight there are 569 CPADs, the Ambulance Training and Community Response Services (ATCoRS) team help to maintain these plus raise public awareness around the importance of learning CPR and defibrillation.

They are supported by a fantastic team of volunteers, charities such as IoW Defibrillators and over 400 community defibrillator guardians on the island, who help with regular checks and recording of the devices on The Circuit. The Circuit connects with all 14 ambulance services in the UK, meaning when someone calls 999 for an ambulance in the event of a cardiac arrest, the nearest defibrillator can be located, and rescuers signposted to them.

Louise Walker, Head of Education and Community Response for Isle of Wight Ambulance Service, said, “Since the introduction of The Circuit on the Isle of Wight in September 2021, we have aspired to have all registered defibrillators on the island emergency ready. The team have worked hard alongside our volunteers, guardians and communities to reach this point and should be so proud of the difference they have made to people’s lives.”

Many of these defibrillators are donated by local fundraisers such as the Wight Strollers, who earlier this year donated their 15^th defibrillator, which has been installed at Seely Hall, Brook. Dave Perryman, committee member responsible for Seely Hall maintenance, noted that this was a much-needed facility for a relatively remote area of the Island.

David Kast, Chair of the Wight Strollers, said, “We are absolutely thrilled to have donated our fifteenth defibrillator to the island community, thanks to proceeds from our most recent pantomime, Alice in Wonderland. The Ambulance community defibrillator scheme sits very close to every Wight Stroller’s heart, knowing that all cardiac arrests are time critical, and we are so pleased to be able to potentially make such a difference.”

Victoria White, Director of Ambulance Service, added, “We are extremely grateful for the continued support of the Wight Strollers, whose fundraising has now provided an incredible 15 defibrillators to our Island community. Publicly accessible defibrillators are essential in improving survival rates from sudden cardiac arrest, particularly in remote areas where every minute counts.”