Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) has launched a new community defibrillator package to help save lives across Dorset and Somerset.

Each year, DSAA provides a resuscitation attempt to approximately 300 people following an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Surviving an OHCA with a good quality of life is dependent on several time-sensitive interventions including: prompt recognition and calling for help, the delivery of chest compressions (CPR), early defibrillation and post-resuscitative care; this is known as the ‘chain of survival’.

The automated external defibrillator (AED) package is part of the charity’s new ‘Life Support’ initiative, which aims to empower members of the public to have the confidence and skills to deliver early life-saving interventions when someone suffers a cardiac arrest.

By placing more publicly accessible AEDs on the exterior of workplace and community buildings, the charity hopes that more lives will be saved, should someone suffer a cardiac arrest at work or in the surrounding community.

DSAA’s AEDs are supplied by The Heartbeat Trust UK and are available to purchase by businesses, community groups and organisations. The package costs £1,750 and includes a license to use the device for as long as you want it, access to a DSAA Life Support CPR and Defibrillator awareness session, support with ongoing maintenance and ways to fundraise for the cost of the package.

Ollie Zorab, Specialist Practitioner in Critical Care at DSAA and Clinical Lead for Cardiac Arrest at South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust said:

“Defibrillators are life-saving pieces of equipment which significantly increase a person’s chance of survival following a cardiac arrest. Each device has easy-to-follow instructions, so can be used by anyone in the crucial few moments following a patient’s collapse.

“We want anyone who suffers a cardiac arrest to receive immediate CPR and to have access to a defibrillator, to ensure that vital treatment can be started whilst help from the ambulance service and DSAA’s critical care team can be organised. Placing a defibrillator in your local community will strengthen the links in the chain of survival for someone who is suffering a cardiac arrest nearby.

“Our devices will join the many thousands of defibrillators which are registered on the British Heart Foundation’s national defibrillator database ‘The Circuit’, so that in the event of a medical emergency, members of the public who call 999 will be directed to the nearest available AED unit by the ambulance service call handler.”

Members of the public can search for their nearest AED unit via the Defib Finder website: www.defibfinder.uk

More information about DSAA’s community defibrillator package can be found by visiting the charity’s website: www.dsairambulance.org.uk/defibrillator-package