Hansard

I thank Jenni Minto for bringing the motion for debate and congratulate her on her personal and powerful speech. I know how close the subject is to her, as I first met her at a British Heart Foundation round-table event during the election campaign. That day, I saw someone who is as passionate as I am about doing all that we can to ensure access to defibrillators.

Defibrillators can mean the difference between life and death for someone who suffers cardiac arrest. That highlights the important role that they play in our communities. It is therefore important that they are widely available, that they are accessible and that folk know how to use them to save someone’s life.

Defibrillators are used to administer an electric shock to a person who is having a cardiac arrest and are designed to be used by an average person with no medical training to save a life. They can and should be available in public places for use by the public when they are required. They are designed to be used by members of the public who have not received any training but we need people to be confident and not scared of using one in a life-or-death scenario, so the devices provide audible instructions and, sometimes, visual prompts on a screen to help people through the process, which makes them easy and safer to use.

It is important that people know what to expect when using a defibrillator. My understanding is that, when a person puts the pads on someone’s chest, the device will analyse the heart’s electrical rhythm and, if it detects an abnormal rhythm that is likely to respond to a shock, it will charge itself. That takes away huge responsibility from the person who is going to use it.

Some devices deliver the shock automatically without needing any further action by the operator. Others instruct the operator to press a button to deliver the shock before instructing them to carry out CPR for a period. It might require more than one shock to save someone’s life, but the machine will talk the operator through every step, so people should not be scared to use one. One of the key things for people to know is that a defibrillator will not allow a shock to be given unless it is needed. That means that it is extremely unlikely that it will do any harm to the person who has collapsed.

I was extremely pleased that Aberdeen City Council recently agreed to have officers consider the feasibility of providing defibrillators in all schools and sheltered accommodation. That received cross-party support, which is probably rare nowadays in Aberdeen City Council. It was brilliant to see councillors coming together to agree that.

As I have said repeatedly, it is important that defibrillators be put in accessible locations and that people in the communities know where they are. A key point to their success is knowing where to find one and their being accessible and close to where they are needed. Unfortunately, I could not find a central bank of locations to which people can log on to find their nearest defibrillator. A quick internet search puts the nearest one to my home at Northfield community centre but I know that there are closer ones and I encourage everyone with a defibrillator to register it on the Circuit website to ensure that everyone can quickly find the nearest one in an emergency.

Once again, I thank Jenni Minto for bringing this important topic to the chamber.