One town in the UK is launching a campaign to raise awareness of all the locations where defibrillators are installed.

The Southport Visiter revealed that there were 180 cardiac arrests in Southport in 2016, and noted that concerns have been raised that lives could be lost not because defibrillators aren’t available, but because people don’t know where they’re installed.

In a bid to tackle this problem, Steven Pang, operation and watch manager at Southport Fire Station, is campaigning for better signage to highlight the location of defibrillators around the town.

“Signage is very cheap, and it is crucial to saving time and lives,” he told the newspaper.

He explained that he became aware of the issue of a lack of awareness about the lifesaving equipment after a pilot programme that saw the fire service team up with the North West Ambulance Service.

The news provider cited figures from the Resuscitation Council, which show that if you can use a defibrillator on someone within three to five minutes of them suffering a cardiac arrest, their chances of survival are between 50 and 70 per cent.

However, after five minutes, the survival rate falls by ten per cent for every additional minute that passes.

Another town is also raising awareness about automatic defibrillators by providing free community training on how to use the devices.

The Tamworth Herald reported on the latest session run for the local community as part of the town’s Have a Heart campaign. More than 20 people attended the training, which showed them how to use a defibrillator, as well as teaching them other lifesaving skills.

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