Safety expert Arco joins the world’s biggest intervention against cardiovascular disease (CVD), offering an exclusive 25% discount off it’s range of Lifeline defibrillators during the week of World Heart Day (29th September 2015), including a brand new addition specially designed for schools. Arco will also be donating £3,000 to The Resuscitation Council (UK)] to help fund future research.

The Lifeline Defibrillator Schools Package provides the Lifeline AED complete with paediatric pads, rescue ready to save a child in Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA). Robust and lightweight, this is the simplest and quickest AED to use. The Lifeline range also includes the Lifeline AED Semi-Automatic Defibrillator which checks to see if defibrillation is needed and prompts the user to press the shock button if required; the Lifeline AUTO Defibrillator which automatically delivers a shock, when needed and the Lifeline VIEW Semi-Auto Defibrillator, a revolutionary industry leading defibrillator that offers step-by-step visual feedback for performing CPR, rescue breathing and defibrillation.

60,000 out of hospital cardiac arrests occur every year in the UK and only 1 in 10 people survive. In the case of SCA, the only definitive treatment is defibrillation – an electric current that “shocks” the heart so that a normal rhythm may resume. This “shock” must be delivered within minutes of the arrest to successfully prevent death. For the best chance of survival, defibrillation should be delivered within the first 4-6 minutes.

Following The UK Resuscitation Council’s recommendation that an AED should be available wherever medical treatment is more than 5 minutes away, Arco is also reaching out to businesses who are deemed most at risk:

  • Businesses based in remote locations will likely be subject to longer response times by the emergency services.
  • Urban or multi-storey locations could be difficult for emergency responders to reach due to the need to negotiate traffic, staircases, elevators, escalators or crowds of people.
  • Industrial campuses or businesses with spread out facilities could also prove hazardous if first aid equipment and defibrillators are located in a distant building.

Other new additions to Arco’s range (not included in discount promotion) include the LifePak CR Plus Fully Automatic AED Bundle, designed to deliver a shock only if it determines a heart needs it.

The Telefunken AED Bundle comprises a simple, easy-to-use, fully-automatic AED defibrillator, wall bracket and a range of signs and posters including the AED user guide for untrained personnel.

Earlier this year, Chancellor George Osborne promised to fund £1m to buy defibrillators for schools and public spaces; however there is currently no legislation in place in the UK or Ireland that obliges certain businesses or premises to provide an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

Whilst first aid training courses and specific training on the use of defibrillators are available, circumstances often dictate that no trained operator is present on site when an emergency strikes. Therefore the Resuscitation Council (UK) states that “AEDs should not therefore be restricted to trained personnel”.