Hansard

The survival chances of people who are affected by cardiac arrest decrease by 14 per cent for every minute without defibrillation. Furthermore, 70 per cent of sudden cardiac arrests occur outside hospital. Of those, only one person in 20 currently survives and death from sudden cardiac arrest can occur within 10 minutes.

In the United Kingdom, an estimated 4,000 people a year die from SADS—sudden arrhythmic death syndrome—which is a genetic heart-rhythm abnormality. In Scotland, cardiovascular disease, or CVD, is the main cause of deaths. There were 17,000 deaths from CVD in 2010, which equates to almost a third of all deaths in Scotland that year. It is worrying that 50 per cent of the people who require defibrillation do not have a previously diagnosed heart condition, and that many of those individuals will be young and seemingly healthy.

The campaign therefore calls for AEDs to be placed in public places, in remote communities and in all fire and police vehicles in Scotland, and in other strategic locations, because cardiac arrests are, by nature, unexpected and sudden. One relatively recent high-profile case involved the collapse of Bolton Wanderers footballer Fabrice Muamba on the pitch during an FA cup match in 2012. Television footage that is now part of a British Heart Foundation advertising campaign shows the shock and distress that registered on the faces of the other players as they watch the previously fit and healthy 20-year-old lying motionless and face down on the pitch. Although he was technically dead for 78 minutes, Fabrice survived, partly thanks to the use of a defibrillator.

The Isle of Man already has a number of AEDs, and a local Manx charity, Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation, aims to raise £60,000 in 2013 to equip all 34 primary schools on the island with lifesaving AEDs and training from St John Ambulance. Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation was established by the Lunt family in memory of their 25-year-old son Craig, who was a popular young footballer who tragically died as a result of previously undiagnosed heart defects.

AEDs that are located in Scotland include one here in Parliament, and a number that have been donated by the British Heart Foundation which has, by working in partnership with the Scottish Ambulance Service and Scotmid, succeeded in placing 40 AEDs in Scotmid stores. In 2009, Strathclyde Partnership for Transport bought AEDs for six of its subway stations and plans to extend that provision to all 15 subway stations. SPT also intends to place AEDs in East Kilbride, Greenock and Hamilton bus stations.

It is not just the efforts of big organisations that have seen AEDs being placed. For evidence of that, we need look no further than the small village of Collieston, where the community raised nearly £3,000 to fund and install a defibrillator in the village. However, there are still far fewer AEDs in Scotland than there should be, hence the call from the AEDs in Scotland campaign and the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health for AEDs to be placed strategically in public and remote places.

According to a recent online discussion that was hosted by the Scottish Ambulance Service, which asked members of the public where they would like AEDs to be placed, the following locations were cited and suggested: public places, especially where large numbers of people gather; remote communities, where it can take an ambulance much precious time to arrive; village halls; old phone boxes; places that are accessible 24 hours a day; and schools.

Given that, alarmingly, each week 12—potentially more—young people die from SADS in the UK, the argument in favour of placing AEDs in schools is compelling. In March, as part of the SADS campaign, Samantha Clinton from Bellshill started a petition calling for all schools to have AEDs; in the light of that, the joint decision by North Lanarkshire Council and NHS Lanarkshire to provide an AED in each of its 24 secondary schools is very much to be welcomed and it is hoped that more local authorities and NHS boards throughout Scotland will follow their example.

However, as more AEDs are placed in our communities, they must be mapped to ensure that, should one be required, its location is known. All the AEDs on the Isle of Man have to be registered at the emergency services joint control room, which handles all 999 calls, to allow people to be directed to the nearest defibrillator. That is particularly useful as it helps to identify AEDs in private locations such as office buildings that can be accessed by the public in an emergency, as well as those that are provided in cabinets. To ensure that the locations of defibrillators are known, the AEDs in Scotland campaign has undertaken its own mapping scheme. So far, it has found 104 AEDs in Scotland, but only 29 that are accessible 24 hours a day. The Scottish Ambulance Service believes that there are 327 AEDs in total, but it does not know where they are all located.

Despite people’s apprehension, defibrillators are, in fact, very easy to use; once it is switched on, the AED guides the operator through the procedure using a computer-generated voice. Once it is connected, the AED automatically analyses the victim’s heart rhythm and delivers the shock only when it detects the presence of a rhythm that requires defibrillation. It also gives the operator guidance on when to begin and stop chest compression. As a result, anyone who is involved in an emergency can be confident that they will be able to use the AED safely and correctly.

In conclusion, the fact that AEDs can save and have saved lives is the reason why campaigns such as the one that is being run by Laura and Paul Macadam-Slater are to be welcomed and supported in seeking to have more of these important machines located across Scotland, to raise awareness of sudden cardiac events and, crucially, to explain the action that is required.

I very much look forward to the minister’s comments on this important issue.