A paramedic-led charity is turning schools across Hertfordshire into community lifesaving hubs — by making their defibrillators publicly accessible 24/7 and helping to increase out-of- hospital cardiac arrest survival rates. These defibrillators will be made publicly accessible over a period of 2 years, with the option to increase numbers should further grants be available.

Thousands of defibrillators were provided to schools by the Department for Education in 2022. However, there was no formal requirement to register them or make them accessible outside of school hours, many remain unavailable in cardiac emergencies and unlisted on The Circuit, the national defibrillator network used by emergency call handlers to direct people to the nearest defib.

With 40,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occurring every year in the UK—and one-third happening within 300 metres of a school—the need for accessible, registered defibrillators has never been greater.

Hearts for Herts Charity will work with the schools to convert one of their additional defibrillators to a publicly accessible unit ensuring they are available around the clock and registered on the Circuit, to help increase the chances of someone surviving a cardiac arrest.

Sarah Perman, Hertfordshire County Council’s Director of Public Health, said: “We are proud to have contributed funding to such an important project, enabling local charity Hearts for Herts to convert the school defibrillators and make this life-saving equipment publicly accessible.

“We’re already seeing real-time results - a converted defibrillator was activated at Broxbourne School by ambulance services during a 999 call on Christmas Day, demonstrating the power of public access in real emergencies.”

Hearts for Herts Charity has also obtained additional funds through its community fundraising and grants to support this project.

The conversion covers the cost of a secure heated cabinet, electrical installation and bleed control kit, at no cost to schools. The charity also replaces consumables from its fundraising and its volunteer guardian network ensures every unit remains emergency ready.

Each cabinet also features a QR code, offering free CPR and defibrillator training resources as well as links to wider health services.

Justin Honey-Jones Chair, Paramedic and RCUK Instructor said “Cardiac arrests do not happen exclusively Monday to Friday from 8am to 1530. They happen 24 hours a day and lifesaving equipment needs to be available 24/7. Every Second Counts in a cardiac arrest. We are proud to spearhead this initiative and aspire to convert every one of the 535 schools in Hertfordshire if they wish to save as many lives as possible in our communities. If every charity like ours did the same across England, there could be an additional 20,376 defibrillators available 24/7.”

James Cant, CEO at Resuscitation Council UK said: “This is a brilliant initiative that we’re proud to support. Making defibrillators accessible outside school gates, particularly in high- risk areas, means communities have life-saving equipment close at hand when it matters most. Hertfordshire is well on its way to becoming the first ResusReady county, and thanks to Hearts for Herts, this work continues to build a safer community and offers a model for others to follow.”

ResusReady is a free initiative created by Resuscitation Council UK that aims to increase the number of people trained in CPR and defib awareness, particularly where inequalities in resuscitation exist. It requires a few simple steps to join - organisations must have offered staff access to basic CPR training within the last 12 months or made them aware of CPR training resources. Individuals must have completed CPR training within the last 12 months.

Notes to editors

1. Pictures and case studies available upon request

2. Contact details: Justin Honey-Jones justin@heartsforherts.co.uk 07753405740

3. Hearts for Herts Charity is a volunteer run and paramedic led charity who fundraise to provide 24/7 public access to lifesaving defibrillators and bleed control kits and teach the public how to learn to save a life for free through its Heartstart Lifesaver programme. The charity maintains the defibrillators as guardians. The charity is rolling out 130 lifesaving defibrillators and 350 bleed control kits across Hertfordshire. In June, the charity will celebrate the milestone of 50 defibrillators and 180 bleed control kits installed. www.heartsforherts.co.uk

4. Statistics: Every second counts: Tackling inequalities in resuscitation | Resuscitation Council UK AACE OHCA AND HEALTH INEQUALITIES REPORT

5. In the trial of one defibrillator cabinet over 6 months, the QR code was accessed by 180 people with the average time spent on the site being 14 minutes. The charity believes it’s cabinets can be both proactive and reactive by preventing cardiac arrests and if required, enable the community to have access to lifesaving equipment to respond to it.

6. ResusReady – www.resus.org.uk

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