Durham County Council has registered over 80 community defibrillators on The Circuit, the national defibrillator network. They initially became aware of The Circuit through the North East Ambulance Service.
As a local authority, public health authority, and responsible employer, the council recognised the importance of making their defibrillators visible to ambulance services when 999 is called in response to a cardiac arrest, ensuring defibrillation can begin as quickly as possible. These defibrillators have already been used in several incidents involving employees and members of the public.
The council's corporate health and safety team handled the initial upload of defibrillators, and now the day-to-day management is overseen by their defibrillator guardians— typically the premises or facilities managers at each site.
Guardians are responsible for registering the defibrillators with The Circuit, conducting regular checks, and ensuring they are ready for use in an emergency. The Circuit system supports the Guardians by sending status check and pad expiry date reminders.
Kevin Lough, Corporate Health, Safety and Compliance Manager at Durham County Council, shared:
"Due to the size of our organisation, we wanted to make managing defibrillators as simple as possible, with minimal administrative time. Having an organisation account on The Circuit, with bulk upload capabilities significantly streamlined the process. Moreover, multiple guardians can look after the same defibrillator, so if a staff member is away, others can update the defibrillator information and perform checks.
Registration gave us a clear picture of defibrillator coverage across County Durham and provides people in our communities with the best chance of survival if they were to ever suffer a cardiac arrest. Our defibrillators have been used several times already to date across leisure centres and our other sites."