- The Government has ensured every state school in England has
a lifesaving defibrillator
- 20,376 defibrillators have successfully been delivered to
17,862 state-funded schools
- It comes after campaigning by Mark King who tragically lost
his son, Oliver King, to sudden cardiac arrest at school, aged 12
The Government has confirmed today that all state-funded schools
in England now have a life-saving defibrillator drastically
increasing the chances of surviving cardiac arrest for all state
school pupils in England.
Following the Government’s £19 million roll out, over 20,000
defibrillators have successfully been delivered to almost 18,000
schools since January.
In June, the Department for Education oversaw the successful
completion of deliveries of defibrillators to secondary schools.
Now, all eligible primary, special and alternative provision
schools who did not already have a defibrillator have now
received deliveries, boosting their numbers in communities across
the country.
Today’s milestone marks another step in the Government’s
commitment to delivering stronger, safer communities across the
country.
In July 2022, the Government committed to delivering
these devices before the end of the 2022/23 academic
year to ensure that all state funded schools in England had
access to a defibrillator, following thecampaigning from Mark
King of the Oliver King Foundation to ensure all schools have a
defibrillator. Mark tragically lost his son, Oliver, after he
suffered sudden cardiac arrest at school during a swimming lesson
when he was 12-years old.
Secretary of State for Education said:
“Having access to defibrillators in schools drastically increases
the chance of pupils, teachers and visitors surviving a cardiac
arrest.
“Thanks to the tireless campaigning of Mark King, Jamie Carragher
and Nicola Carragher we are proud to say that every state-funded
school in England now has access to a defibrillator.
“Teachers and pupils across the country can now be reassured that
they will have access to one on school grounds should tragedy
strikes.”
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, , said:
“Having access to defibrillators in schools drastically increases
the chance of pupils, teachers and visitors surviving a cardiac
arrest.
“Thanks to the tireless campaigning of Mark King and Jamie
Carragher we are proud to say that every state-funded school in
England now has one of these potentially life-saving machines.
“So however rare these events are, teachers, parents and pupils
across the country can now be reassured they will have access to
a defibrillator on school grounds, should the worst happen.”
Oliver King Foundation founder, Mark King:
“We as a family and foundation will continue to strive for change
so no other family has to suffer as we are.
“We would like to say a massive thank you to , Lord , Jamie Carragher and the DfE
for helping us aim for legislation.
“Oliver's memory will live on and lives will be saved!”
Large schools have been provided with two or more defibrillators
so that they can be strategically placed in areas of the schools
where a cardiac arrest is more likely, such as sports halls.
A defibrillator is a machine that is placed externally on the
body and is used to give an electric shock when a person is in
cardiac arrest i.e. when the heart suddenly stops pumping blood
around the body. Prompt defibrillation can help save a person’s
life.
The Government is also supporting schools in making
defibrillators available to the community, with 1,200 external
heated defibrillator cabinets being provided to primary and
special schools by the end of 2023 in areas of deprivation, where
provision is generally lower.
The rollout will build on existing requirements for schools to
teach first aid as part of the curriculum, with secondary school
pupils being taught life-saving methods such as CPR and the
purpose of defibrillators. This rollout will help protect schools
and their local communities against cardiac arrest, delivering
wider access to these devices.
