Local authority to extend rural AED (automatic external defibrillators) cover:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
A UK county council is considering extending the provision of automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) in rural areas by equipping each its refuse lorries with the device, for use by their crews. The plans by Staffordshire Moorlands Council, which has already installed the devices in its one-stop shops, aim to increase rapid access to the technology across a wide rural area that the ambulance service could not cover rapidly enough. The first few minutes of defibrillation are crucial, with survival reduced some 10% for every minute after the heart attack. The move has been welcomed by the county's ambulance service, the BBC reports.