South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust has just launched a new lifesaving app that enables local residents in Oxfordshire to find the nearest defibrillator to them if they see someone having a heart attack.

This will be the first national register in the UK of every automatic defibrillator, the Oxford Mail reports, with the app available to be downloaded for free from the NHS Trust website.

Oxfordshire ambulance commander Dick Tracey launched a campaign a few years ago to make sure that no one was more than ten minutes away from one of the lifesaving devices. He has been involved in the creation of this app.

“It is a fantastic thing and although our control room at the moment would give you directions to the nearest defibrillator this app will find your location and take you to the nearest device, making it so much easier. I really do hope that this can become a national app because even seconds can make all the difference to saving someone’s life,” he was quoted by the news source as saying.

The app itself is available on both Android and Apple devices, and also features videos, frequently asked questions about cardiac arrests and heart attacks, and instructions on how to carry out CPR safely.

Those of you who have had these devices installed in your area but who can’t find them on the app map can tell the creators via email and they’ll add it to the system.

Have you considered an AED defibrillator for your organisation? Contact one of our account managers to discuss how we can help.