- Date: 30 May 2024
- Category: Small Business Guidance
Access to a defibrillator can increase survival rates by 50-70%. With 30,000 cardiac arrests in the UK last year, knowing how to use one is crucial.
But if someone collapses, do you know how to resuscitate them? And if you do, is there a defibrillator nearby?
We surveyed 2000 workers across the UK to uncover just how prepared we are, covering topics like defibrillator training, prior experience, and how confident people feel about using one.
Practice makes perfect
We spend a lot of time at work. In fact, we’ll spend roughly 3,515 days at work over our lives—the equivalent of roughly 9.6 years! So if someone falls ill with a cardiac arrest, there’s a good chance it’ll happen in the workplace.
In such cases, our survey reveals only 11% of our respondents would be ‘very confident at responding to someone having a cardiac arrest’. Roughly a third of people are only ‘fairly confident’, and another third is ‘not very confident’.
What’s making people unsure?
One possible reason is that while guidelines like the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 suggest having sufficient first-aid equipment, having access to a defibrillator isn’t mandatory by law. As such, some workplaces might be overlooking them.
The stats back it up. Only 4% of respondents have received workplace defibrillator training in the last three months, and just 23% have had training within the past year.
Even more worrying, many people haven’t had any training on how to use a defibrillator. Plus, 32% of English and 44% of Scottish respondents don’t have access to a defibrillator at work, and 24% are unsure if they have one. This means over half of respondents in the UK either lack access to a defibrillator or are unsure whether their workplace has one.
On the other hand, 14% of people said they would be ‘very confident’ using a defibrillator, and another 29% reported being ‘fairly confident.’ This 43% shows that with proper training, people’s confidence can significantly improve.
Ready to rescue
Over half of workplaces don’t have a defibrillator available, making it crucial for employees to know where the nearest public defib is located. However, our survey found that 55% of respondents are not sure where their nearest public defibrillator is located.
But is your nearest public defibrillator “rescue ready”? A rescue ready defib is properly maintained, checked, and calibrated. It’s fully operational and ready to be used immediately.
Our survey found that 58% of respondents believe that their nearest public defibrillator is “rescue ready”, while only 9% do not and the remaining 33% are not sure.
However, even if a defibrillator appears ready, you can’t be sure until it’s needed in an emergency. A recent BBC news report revealed that some defibrillators listed on a national network as “rescue ready” were actually unavailable when people tried to use them in an emergency.
In response, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) emphasised the need for more awareness about the dangers of poorly maintained devices and called for regular inspections. Maintenance includes checking battery life, ensuring the pads are within their expiration date, and verifying that the device performs self-checks accurately.
Saving lives without a defibrillator
Early defibrillation, within 3-5 minutes of someone collapsing, can improve the chances of saving someone’s life by 50-70%. But for this to happen, we need defibrillators in public places and workplaces, and people need to know where they are. Waiting even a minute can lower the chances of survival by 10-12%.
Our recent survey reveals that many people are unsure where the nearest defibrillator is:
- 55% don’t know where their nearest defibrillator is, and 13% don’t have one nearby.
- 8% can quickly get to one in three minutes.
- 17% can reach one in three to ten minutes.
- 6% have to travel more than ten minutes, drastically reducing the victim’s chances of survival.
Defibrillator awareness varies by area, with some regions more prepared than others:
- London has the highest regional percentage, with 14% of workplaces within three minutes of a public defibrillator.
- In Wales and the North West, 11% of respondents are within three minutes of a defibrillator.
- In Northern Ireland, 8% are within a three minute walk of a defibrillator, followed by Scotland at 6%.
- In the East Midlands, 19% reported no nearby defibrillator, the highest percentage in this category.
Make your workplace defibrillator ready
Defibrillators can save someone’s life, yet many employees lack the confidence or training to use them effectively. Even more alarming, a significant number of workplaces don’t have easy access to a defibrillator.
Don’t wait until it’s too late. Ensure your workplace is prepared for a cardiac emergency. Contact Direct 365 today to learn more about our range of defibrillators and access essential training for your team.