A global shortage of components has left defibrillators out of action potentially putting lives at risk. Over the past year, batteries, microchips and pads to attach to a patient's chest have been difficult to replace.
Currently there are 100,000 defibrillators in Britain, with the device delivering a high-energy shock to the heart of someone who has had a cardiac arrest. The product roughly doubles the chances of survival, but a shortage have parts has put a strain of replacement components.
Adam Fletcher, of the British Heart Foundation (BHF), said: “Defibrillators can be the difference between life and death in a cardiac arrest, but only if they’re kept in proper working order. The ongoing supply-chain issues for replacement defibrillator pads and batteries is extremely worrying and could even put people’s lives at risk.”
The shortage has left many devices unusable, with one defibrillator at a Morrisons in Southport having a note on saying it is "out of order due to a global battery shortage".
More than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur every year in the UK and fewer than one in 10 survive. Immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation can more than double the chances of survival, but defibrillators are used in less than one in ten cases.
Defibrillators should have their pads and batteries replaced every time they are used and once every five years. St John Ambulance also keenly felt the issues saying the problem was linked to soaring demand for defibrillators in recent months.
The BHF recently launched a campaign encouraging defibrillator owners to register them on a new national database. It aims to map all publicly-available defibrillators, so that 999 call handlers are able to direct bystanders to the nearest device.
Dr Charmaine Griffiths, chief executive at the BHF, said: “Minutes count and knowing where the nearest defibrillator is could be the difference between life and death.” Thousands of defibrillators are unknown to 999 call handlers because they are not registered on the database, which has details of 46,000 of the UK’s defibrillators, or just under half.
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