The Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) welcomes the Department for Education’s (DfE) plan to rollout at least one defibrillator to every state school without a device. We would like to support the Department in shortening the time ‘from collapse to first shock’ in both school and community settings across England.
The RCUK has published a position paper setting out why DfE, the Department for Health & Social Care, and relevant public health bodies, should request, where possible, at least one public-access device per school.
In making this request, we believe the DfE project can achieve greater coverage and increase the number of devices available to the public. RCUK is also calling for:
RCUK's Key Policy Recommendations:
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That the Secretary of State for Education requests each school offer, where possible, at least one public-access defibrillator.
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Target public-access devices for high-risk areas first.
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Encourage schools to register their Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) with local Emergency Medical Services via The Circuit.
Resuscitation Council UK’s CEO James Cant has recently written to the Secretary of State for Education, regarding the Department's planned state school defibrillator rollout: