Defibrillators installed in all Scottish courts

Public access defibrillators (PADs) have been installed in all Scottish Courts & Tribunals Service buildings across Scotland.

All of the PADs have been registered with the Scottish Ambulance Service and there have to date been three occasions when members of the public have been directed to a court to get a defibrillator to help a casualty in the community.

Around 3,500 people in Scotland undergo attempted resuscitation each year following an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), but only around 1 in 12 people survive. Using a defibrillator alongside CPR can greatly increase survival rates, but to be most effective, a defibrillator needs to be used within the first three to five minutes of collapse.

Eric McQueen, SCTS chief executive commented: "Scotland is committed to improving survival rates after an OHCA, and aims to become a world leader in response to OHCA by 2020. We want to play our part by rolling our public access defibrillators across our estate, making sure that anyone using our buildings, or the local community, are closer to this lifesaving equipment should they suffer a cardiac arrest."