Publicly accessible defibrillators installed at over 150 South Western Railway stations.
The defibrillators can be used day or night in the event of cardiac incidents.
One of Surrey's major rail companies South Western Railway have announced that they've installed accessible defibrillators at over one hundred and fifty stations on its network.
The defibrillators are placed in protective cabinets, as close as possible to the front entrance of the stations. They can be used day or night in the event of cardiac incidents, and they are remotely monitored to ensure they are always in working order.
The locations of the defibrillators have been added to ‘The Circuit’ — the British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) database, visible to NHS ambulance services who can direct 999 callers to its position, so the device can be used to help save lives.
"They are a useful, amazing bit of kit when they're needed."
The BHF estimates that there are around 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests every year in the UK, and tragically just 1 in 10 people survive. The immediate use of CPR and defibrillators can double the chances of survival.
An event also took place at Basingstoke Station on Monday, for Restart a Heart Day, to mark the successful rollout. A ribbon was cut by the Mayor of Basingstoke at that station’s defibrillator, and volunteers from Heart Start, a community-based organisation that provides training in CPR and the use of a defibrillators, led a demonstration for attendees.
Steve Wardle is SWR's operations trainer.
Steve said that it's a huge achievement for South Western Railway. "24 hour access that our customers have for 154 defibrillators, which has all been rolled out literally in the last 3 months.
"It's a fantastic achievement and they are a useful, amazing bit of kit when they're needed."
Steve's son Alex tragically passed away from sudden arrhythmic death syndrome in 2016, and Steve and his family have worked tirelessly campaigning for greater public access to defibrillators through their work running The Alex Wardle Foundation.
Steve explained what the foundation aims to do.
"What we want to do is raise awareness of SADS... and we've raised several thousand to put defibs into high density young people - football clubs, rugby clubs, schools."
In March, SWR announced the start of the rollout when the operator named a train after the Alex Wardle Foundation. The train pulled into Basingstoke station at the time of the event on Restart a Heart Day,
Since the train naming, there have been 92 alerts from The Circuit, when the location of one of the defibrillators has been used by an emergency call handler.