Since 2018, BHF has funded an annual survey exploring public attitudes towards CPR and defibrillator use. The survey is delivered by YouGov, in partnership with the Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Outcomes (OHCAO) team at the University of Warwick and other partners. This annual survey provides an important way of tracking public awareness, skills and confidence over time, helping BHF and others understand where progress is being made and where further action is needed to save more lives.
The 2025 survey included more than 6,000 UK adults, providing the most comprehensive picture yet of public attitudes towards CPR and defibrillator use.
Looking across 8 years of results, there are encouraging signs of progress. More people have received lifesaving training, public confidence in delivering CPR is increasing, and levels of awareness of defibrillator locations is improving. However, the findings also show there is still more work to do.
CPR training continues to increase
The proportion of UK adults who report having received CPR training has risen gradually since the survey began. In 2018, around 60% of respondents said they had received CPR training. By 2025, this had increased to 64%, while the proportion who had never been trained fell from 38% to 33%. Among those who have trained, two-thirds (67%) have completed training more than once.
Workplaces continue to be the most common route into CPR training. More than half (52%) of trained respondents said they learned CPR through a first aid at work course, highlighting the important role employers play in developing lifesaving skills.
Defibrillator training has also increased substantially. In 2018, one quarter of respondents had received defibrillator training; by 2025 this had risen to 35%.
Increasing training rates are encouraging, as evidence consistently shows that people who have received CPR training are more likely to feel confident and willing to intervene during a cardiac arrest.
One of the clearest long-term trends is the increase in the proportion of people who say they would step in and help if they witnessed a cardiac arrest.
In 2018, 58% of respondents said they would be likely to perform CPR in an emergency. By 2025, this had risen to 63%, meaning almost two-thirds of the population now say they would be prepared to act. While this improvement has largely plateaued since 2021, it remains an important increase over the longer term.
Further to this, the proportion of respondents that would be likely to use a defibrillator in an emergency situation has risen from 41% to 53% over the same period, though this also has experienced a similar plateau since 2021.
Awareness of defibrillator locations is growing
Knowing where to find a defibrillator is critical during a cardiac arrest, yet this has traditionally been an area of low public awareness.
The survey asks respondents how far they believe their nearest defibrillator is from their home. While estimates of distance fluctuate from year to year, 1 result stands out: fewer people now say they do not know where their nearest defibrillator is located.
In 2018, 51% selected 'don't know'. By 2025, that figure had fallen to 40%. While this still represents a significant proportion of the population, the long-term trend suggests awareness of defibrillator locations is improving.
Improving public awareness of defibrillators remains an important priority. The Circuit helps ambulance services identify nearby defibrillators during an emergency and encourages communities to register and maintain their devices.
New findings from 2025
The 2025 survey introduced several new questions to explore public understanding of cardiac arrest and people's experiences during real-life emergencies.
Four in 10 respondents (40%) said they were confident they could recognise when someone was having a cardiac arrest. When asked about specific signs, 78% recognised a person's heart stopping beating and 68% identified a person stopping breathing as signs of cardiac arrest. However, fewer respondents associated collapse (54%) or becoming unconscious (55%) with cardiac arrest, suggesting there is still room to improve public awareness.
Building on progress
After 8 years of tracking attitudes towards CPR and defibrillator use, these results provide encouraging evidence that more people across the UK are gaining the skills and knowledge needed to respond in a cardiac emergency. Training rates have increased, willingness to intervene has improved, and awareness of defibrillators is growing.
While these findings demonstrate encouraging long-term progress, they also highlight the need for continued action. A substantial proportion of the public remain untrained in resuscitation skills, are unsure where their nearest defibrillator is located, or lack confidence recognising cardiac arrest.
Through initiatives such as RevivR, support for The Circuit, and wider public awareness campaigns, BHF and its partners continue to work towards a future where more people have the skills, knowledge and confidence to act when every second counts.
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