(CB): My
Lords, I declare that I am patron of CRY, a charity that looks at
cardiac arrest in the young. Of the 270 children who die each
year, 75% of them would still be alive if a defibrillator had
been readily available. Do the Government recognise that, as well
as having a defibrillator in a school, one must also be on the
sports ground because many of the cardiac arrests occur during
athletic activities? Therefore, having only one in a school is
inadequate. Will the Government consider asking Ofsted to ensure
that there is a defibrillator on every sports ground specifically
as well as centrally in every school?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health
and Social Care () (Con): As the noble
Baroness rightly says, it is important that we get these
defibrillators out as widely as possible, including in sports
grounds, for the reasons she mentioned. We are looking at how we
work with partners in this area; for example, the Premier League
announced that it will fund AEDs at thousands of football clubs
and in grass-roots sports grounds. Also, Sport
England is working with the Football Foundation on
this. The defibrillator fund will see AEDs in a number of
different sports grounds. We are also looking at other locations
and working in conjunction with Sport
England and the National Lottery fund. Not only do
we have to put defibrillators in place, but people have to know
where they are and how to use them.
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