THE Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust wishes to encourage businesses and premises in the Skipton area that look after a defibrillator – also known as defibrillator guardians – to register them on The Circuit, the national network linked to ambulance services throughout the UK.

There are currently 111 defibrillators registered with The Circuit under the BD23 postcode.

These include 94 community public access defibrillators (CPADS), affixed to an outside cabinet and available 24/7, and 17 defibrillators on restricted access sites.

Whether in a public place such as a supermarket, or in a location not normally accessible to the public such as a factory, power station, or building site, registration of defibrillators enables the ambulance service to direct someone to the nearest equipment in the case of a cardiac arrest, potentially saving a life.

According to the Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, 27 defibrillators were deployed in May of this year, while 17 were deployed in June.

Joanne Watson, community defibrillation co-ordinator at Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said: “A cardiac arrest can happen to anyone of any age at any time and action taken in the first few minutes of this occurring can make a huge difference to someone’s chances of survival.

“Less than 1 in 10 people in the UK survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, partly because bystanders are reluctant to perform CPR and a lack of defibrillators.

“A bystander performing CPR and using a defibrillator can increase the patient’s chances of survival by two to four-fold.

“For every minute someone is in cardiac arrest without CPR and access to a defibrillator their chances of survival drop by up to 10%.”

Registering a defibrillator is easy and only takes a few minutes.

The details required are the defibrillator’s location and surroundings; the brand, model, and serial number; available time of use; pad expiry dates; and assurance that the defibrillator is emergency-ready.

Defibrillators can be registered on The Circuit at www.thecircuit.uk.

Members of the public wishing to track the location of defibrillators can use the website www.defibfinder.uk, which is powered by The Circuit.