Turning your feedback into action

Our annual public community listening events came to a close recently for the 2023/24 financial year – thank you to every one of you who took the time to join us.

Our listening events are vital as they give us a chance to get valuable feedback from members of the public within each of the counties we serve. We act on this and it helps us make important improvements to our services. From the latest round of events, a frequent theme identified was around lack of knowledge and concerns for defibrillator maintenance.

Community public access defibrillators (cPADs) are defibrillators available to members of the public to use if someone has a cardiac arrest. They are available 24 hours a day and are often located in buildings that are permanently open, such as hotels, or in special cabinets on the outside of buildings.

cPADs are usually funded and taken care of by community groups or individuals, using the new online national defib network, The Circuit. The guardians of the defibrillator maintain this record within The Circuit which then updates our control room systems. In an emergency, the cabinet is accessed via a code given to the person who rings 999. New national guidance on all defibrillator cabinets is that they should be unlocked – this is expected to come into effect by the end of 2024.

Businesses and organisations can also buy an automated external defibrillator (AED) which can also be used for the public during an emergency. The responsibility of registration, maintenance and replacement of that AED is down to the individual and or business, working hand in hand with our community resuscitation team, British Heart Foundation (BHF), or the organisation the guardian has worked with to install it.

When any defibrillator has been used, it is taken offline by The Circuit. The guardian is notified and advised to check it and replace any consumables, including pads, so that it can be made available again. There was a concern raised in our listening events that failure to do this could mean a defibrillator was out of action for some time.

We have been in touch with BHF to discuss if there are ways we could encourage companies or groups to have spare replacement parts available. This will help to keep these valuable pieces of equipment in operation for the community and prevent them from being out of operation for considerable periods.

Community Resuscitation Manager Shaun Sproule said: “Defibrillators are exceptional pieces of equipment that can improve the chances of survival during a cardiac arrest. We would like as many public areas as possible, communities and workplaces to have accessible defibrillators. Our community resuscitation team is happy to provide advice and training on basic life support and how to use a defibrillator.”

If you want more information about defibrillators or if you would like to arrange basic life support training for your colleagues, or community group, please get in touch by email: talk.tous@nwas.nhs.uk.

Did you know?

In the UK, around 60,000 people have an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest every year.

Less than 1 in 10 people survive a cardiac arrest.

Defibrillation within five minutes can result in survival rates as high as 70%.