Question reference: S5W-12614
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 10 November 2017
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Current status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 November 2017
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many registered community-based defibrillators there are; who has responsibility for the registration process, and how the register is maintained and publicised.
Answer
The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) is progressing work to register community based defibrillators onto their call handling system. The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) has 1,553 public access defibrillators registered and live on the command and control system used by call handlers and dispatchers in the SAS's three ambulance control centres. This should not be considered to represent the total number of defibrillators in the country. The figures represent only a snapshot as of 16 November 2017. This number changes daily due to owners/custodians of public access defibrillators registering devices on the Service’s dedicated website.
The Service’s corporate affairs and engagement department and community resilience department have been working together to promote the registration website. Both departments work closely with ambulance control centres to maintain the register. There is currently no legal obligation for defibrillator owners/custodians to register their devices with the Service.
We would strongly encourage any member of the public, community group or business to register their Public Access Defibrillator (PAD) with the SAS. Further details can be found at the SAS's dedicated 'Registering your Public Access Defibrillator' page; http://www.scottishambulance.com/YourCommunity/pad.aspx.