UK retailer Tesco has commenced registration of its 2,190 defibrillators to a new national database of defibrillators.
The retailer claims that the initiative marks the biggest single addition of defibrillators to the database so far.
National Database
Known as The Circuit: The National Defibrillator Network, the database aims to map all public access defibrillators, allowing ambulance services to direct bystanders to the nearest registered defibrillator if they see somebody having a cardiac arrest.
There are more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests every year in the UK, but fewer than one in 10 people survive, Tesco noted.
It is partly because defibrillators are used in less than 10% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, with ambulance services often unaware of where they are located.
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Currently, Tesco is registering its existing defibrillators in stores onto The Circuit and is installing hundreds more with the aims to ensure every Tesco store in the UK will have one.
Dr Charmaine Griffiths, chief executive of the British Heart Foundation (BHF), said, "We’re thrilled that Tesco are registering all their defibrillators on The Circuit – this could help save lives in the years to come.
"By ensuring defibrillators are visible to ambulance services in the ultimate medical emergency, Tesco is providing an invaluable service to communities across the UK."
The Circuit
The Circuit has been developed by the BHF in partnership with Resuscitation Council UK, St John Ambulance, and the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives.
The founding health charities are urging all organisations with defibrillators to register them on the system to ensure that The Circuit achieves its ambitions.
There are tens of thousands of defibrillators in locations unknown to ambulance services, and the BHF has set a goal of seeing 70,000 new defibrillators registered before the end of the year, the retailer added.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest Retail news. Article by Conor Farrelly. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
