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Wales’ Health Minister has announced half a million pounds of funding will go towards improving community access to potentially-life-saving heart defibrillators.
The funding will be used to help places like community centres and sports grounds to access a defibrillator.
Defibrillators usually cost around £1,300.
Currently, there are 5,423 public access defibrillators in Wales registered with the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust and the Circuit – which is a national defibrillator network.
Every year, around 6,000 people suffer sudden cardiac arrest in Wales.
What is a cardiac arrest?
Someone experiencing a cardiac arrest will collapse suddenly. They will be unconscious and unresponsive.
Their breathing will also be affected, with some people not breathing at all during a cardiac arrest.
A cardiac arrest often happens without warning.
Without immediate treatment or medical attention, someone experiencing a cardiac arrest will die.
A patient’s chance of surviving an out of hospital cardiac arrest decreases by an estimated 10% with every passing minute.
If you see someone having a cardiac arrest, call 999 immediately and start performing CPR on them.
During the EURO 2020 football match between Denmark and Finland in June, Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen collapsed to the floor after suffering a cardiac arrest.
He was swiftly treated on the pitch with a defibrillator – which saved his life.
Health Minister Eluned Morgan said: “Survival rates for cardiac arrests outside of a hospital setting are low in Wales, but there is the potential for many more lives to be saved.
“I fully support calls for more defibrillators and that is why I have fought for additional funding of £500k to improve community access to defibrillators.”
She added: “Not only do we need a comprehensive network of defibrillators, but also to ensure that members of the public are equipped with the skills and the confidence to use them, as well as CPR skills in the event a defibrillator is not available.
“Every second counts when someone goes into cardiac arrest. We can all help raise awareness of the importance of early CPR and defibrillation.”
In July, the Welsh Government agreed £2.5m funding over the next three years for the Save a Life Cymru campaign, which aims to improve public access to defibrillators, as well as to raise awareness of defibrillators and how to use them.
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