Website of the Department of Health

The National Defibrillator Programme started in February 2000 and was originally called the Defibrillators in Public Places Initiative.  Throughout this initial phase of the programme nearly 700 AEDs were placed at 110 locations in busy public places across England, including airports, railways stations, tube stations, bus stations, a ferry port  and a shopping centre. Over 6,000 volunteers, all staff who work at the sites where AEDs have been installed, have been trained in Basic Life Support skills and the use of an AED, training which is making them into real life savers. Current evidence suggests that 74  lives have now been saved as a direct result of the work of the programme. 

 The National Defibrillator Programme (NDP) continues to enjoy success and growth with the recent procurement of a further 2,300 Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) for the community.  This follows an award from the Big Lottery Fund, made to the British Heart Foundation in October 2003 in order to meet the NHS target of 3,000 AEDs in the community this year.  The National Defibrillator Programme team at the Department of Health will draw on their previous four years experience to ensure successful delivery of this phase of the programme. 

In the current and final stage of the programme Ambulance Trusts across England have been invited to identify areas in their regions that would most benefit from the installation of AEDs and apply accordingly.  Thirty-one trusts will now receive a share of the next 2,300 AEDs for their areas as well as a Community Defibrillation Officer to oversee and coordinate the necessary installation, training and management of these AEDs. 

The management of the 700 AEDs already in place will also become the responsibility of the Ambulance Trusts to allow greater working relationships with First Responders across the Trusts and the community.  In February 2004 the 14 sites in the North West region of the country, and the 92 AEDs installed at those sites, were successfully devolved to the local Ambulance Trusts, who now coordinate the AED training and ensure that activity across these sites and the service provided in these busy public places will continue.  The remaining sites will be devolved to the local Ambulance Trusts in February 2005.