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The UK’s 10 ‘defibrillator deserts' putting lives at risk
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We have revealed 10 areas across the UK that are in urgent need of more lifesaving defibrillators because they have communities with fewer of these vital devices in close range, putting people at higher risk of dying if they have a cardiac arrest.
We are urging community group leaders from these ‘defibrillator deserts’ to come forward and apply for a free defibrillator as part of our Community Defibrillator Funding Programme.
There are over 40,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests each year in the UK, but fewer than one in 10 people survive. However, early CPR and defibrillation can more than double the chance of survival.
We have 400 defibrillator packages available and areas in greatest need will be prioritised. So far, the charity has successfully placed 1,000 lifesaving devices in communities across the UK through this programme.
The locations are:
England
• Barking and Dagenham
• Liverpool
• Southampton
• Nottingham
Wales
• Wrexham
• Newport
Scotland
• Airdrie, Hamilton and Motherwell
• Bonnybridge, Croy and Cumbernauld
Northern Ireland
• West Tyrone
• Cusher
The selected areas are those with a combination of long retrieval times, high population density and communities with high deprivation.
Shockingly, one of the identified areas has an average retrieval time of 19 minutes 20 seconds – which is in rural West Tyrone in Northern Ireland.
Communities in need
The fewer defibrillators in a community, the less chance someone has of surviving a cardiac arrest. For every minute without defibrillation and CPR, survival chances decrease by up to 10%.
It is vital that every community has enough defibrillators available in the event of a cardiac arrest, but there are hundreds of areas around the country that still don’t have good enough access to these lifesaving devices.
The awarded defibrillators will be registered on The Circuit: the national defibrillator network, allowing emergency services to easily locate them. There are now over 120,000 defibrillators registered on The Circuit but they are not evenly distributed.
More deprived areas have higher rates of cardiovascular disease and more deaths from cardiac arrest. These areas are often also places with fewer defibrillators, partially due to the cost of the equipment as well as the installation.
This campaign has been made possible thanks to the support of BHF’s corporate partners, Royal Mail, Sky Bet and Omaze.
Best chance of survival
Sam Kennard said: "When someone has a cardiac arrest, every second counts, and quick access to a defibrillator gives someone the best possible chance of survival before emergency help arrives.
“We’ve made great progress in placing more defibrillators in areas that need them, but there’s still so many communities, including some of the most deprived parts of the UK, which are still too far away from the nearest lifesaving device that can have devastating consequences.
“That's why we're thrilled to relaunch our community defibrillator funding programme - to bring more defibrillators into the communities that need them most and hopefully save more lives from cardiac arrest.”
Successful applicants will receive a defibrillator and cabinet, and installation will be arranged where required. Future replacement parts will be free of charge when they expire or are used in an emergency for up to 10 years.
Adrian’s story – saved by a community defibrillator
On Christmas Day 2025, one of our community defibrillators that had only been installed two months prior, saved the life of Plymouth man Adrian Millard who went into cardiac arrest at his local pub.
Adrian had just arrived at the Devon pub with his son in law for a festive pint. After only two minutes in the establishment, he had a heart attack - this caused him to go into cardiac arrest. Fortunately, three people in the pub jumped into action and performed CPR on him. Between them, they took turns performing CPR whilst Adrian’s friend who was also at the pub, went to grab the newly installed defibrillator across the road at a church that had been placed in October 2025.
The defibrillator was used to shock Adrian twice, helping to bring him back to life before the ambulance arrived.
Adrian shares: “We arrived at the pub, said hello to a few people and ordered our pints. But I never got to drink mine. I’d literally been there two minutes and fine, having had a slightly racing heart on the way over, but then I keeled over onto the floor. I could feel myself falling, I remember that, but when I hit the floor everything went black.
“I was told later when I woke up from my heart being restarted that I’d been out for 29 minutes. I remember the paramedics speaking about it on the way to hospital.”
Adrian was already conscious and breathing again before the paramedics even arrived thanks to the quick-thinking and brave actions of the pub punters – as well as the newly installed defibrillator.
He continued: “There had been a local campaign to get the defibrillator that saved my life put in so we all knew it was there – and thank goodness it was. It was used twice to shock my heart and I likely wouldn’t be here without it. I had surgery to have an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) put in on New Year’s Eve and then was discharged home.”