Maria Caulfield, Member of Parliament for Lewes, is encouraging local organisations to apply to the £1 million Community Automated External Defibrillators Fund, aimed at increasing the number of AEDs in public places where they are most needed and to help save lives.
The scheme is funded by the Department for Health and Social Care, where Maria is a Minister.
The Lewes MP has long been a campaigner for better access to defibrillators, including introducing a bill to parliament to make it mandatory for public buildings such as schools, libraries and leisure centres to have defibrillators in case of an emergencies.
As a result of Maria’s campaigning, alongside groups like the British Heart Foundation, the government committed last year to having a defibrillator in every state-funded school.
Access to AED’s is extremely important, defibrillation is the only method to treat someone in cardiac arrest. Every minute that a person in Sudden Cardiac Arrest does not receive defibrillation, their chances of survival drop by 7-10%
The £1 Million fund from the DHSC will mean there will be an additional 2000 publicly accessible defibrillators across the country.
Maria Caulfield MP said:
“I have been campaigning for better access to defibrillators for a number of years, I am extremely pleased that the government has launched this fund as a step towards ensuring that there is wide availability for defibrillators in those emergencies where it can mean the difference between life and death for someone in that situation”
Organisations can apply for funding at https://www.defibgrant.co.uk/