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Coronary heart disease is the largest single cause of death in England and the National Service Framework set a target of reducing the death rate by 200,000 in 2010.  One of the key objectives was to provide faster treatment to those with heart problems.  Twelve thousand people each year suffer a cardiac arrest in a public place and the introduction of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) would increase the chances of survival for many of those people.

 In July 1999, the White Paper, Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation announced the Government's intention to invest £1 million in installing AEDs in busy public places such as railway stations, airports, coach stations and ferry ports.  A further £1 million was then committed to training people employed at the site in their use and in basic life support.

An AED is a small, safe and lightweight piece of equipment, which can deliver a shock to treat someone in cardiac arrest.  An AED monitors the heart's activity and gives instructions to the user. The AEDs contain built-in fail-safe computer software that analyses a cardiac rhythm and will not deliver an electric shock to a person whose heart does not require this treatment.

The AEDs are housed in cabinets and strategically placed in the public domain.  The number of defibrillators installed at a site is determined by the criteria that an incident could be responded to within two minutes.

In April 2000, the Metro Centre shopping complex was the first public place in which AEDs were installed.  Nine further public places (sites) received AEDs, completing the pilot phase of the programme and in November 2002, phase two of the programme was completed.  This resulted in 110 sites receiving 681 AEDs and over 6,000 people receiving training in Basic Life Support skills and the use of an AED. 

The programme's achievements are the result of a huge effort by all parties involved and the equipment installed has indeed contributed to the prompt delivery of an electronic shock when required.

The National Defibrillator Programme team is now working on the third phase of the programme - to provide 3,000 AEDs across the country in 2004.