Education Minister has announced that every school
in Northern Ireland now has a life-saving defibrillator on site.
The initiative to rollout Automated External Defibrillators
(AEDs) has seen 476 defibrillators delivered to schools since it
was announced in November 2024. The completion of the scheme
means that all school premises in Northern Ireland now have
access to this equipment.
Some of these devices will be placed in external cabinets at
school boundaries where needed, making them accessible to the
wider community outside school hours.
said: "The importance of
defibrillators in schools cannot be overstated. Schools are often
situated at the centre of communities in our cities, towns and
villages. They play a vital role in serving those communities and
wider society, both as physical hubs and by equipping our
children and young people with vital skills, knowledge and
confidence that could potentially save lives.
“The rollout of these devices builds on existing requirements for
schools to teach CPR and AED awareness within the curriculum.
Together, these practical steps are hugely significant for the
health and safety of our schools and the communities they serve.
“Every minute without CPR and defibrillation reduces a person's
chances of survival by up to 10%, so quick access to these
devices is vital. By delivering on my commitment to provide these
life-saving devices to every school in Northern Ireland,
teachers, pupils and the wider community can now be reassured
that a defibrillator will be within reach should an emergency
strike.”
Since 2022, over 500 teachers have been trained through the
Community of Lifesavers Programme, developed by the Department in
partnership with CCEA and the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service.
Head of British Heart Foundation Northern Ireland, Fearghal
McKinney, welcomed the announcement that every school in Northern
Ireland now has access to a life-saving device. Fearghal said:
“Each year over 1,400 people in Northern Ireland have an
out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and the survival rate is less than
1 in 10. Having defibrillators throughout schools in Northern
Ireland and where possible, being accessible to the wider
community, will undoubtedly increase the chance of saving more
lives.”
“We've been working with schools across Northern Ireland to
support life-saving training with BHF's interactive learning tool
Classroom RevivR and have provided support and information to the
Department to ensure teachers are equipped with all the tools
they need to facilitate training.”
Fearghal added: “It's vital that every school registers their
defibrillator on The Circuit, the national defibrillator
network. When someone collapses with a cardiac arrest, the person
who witnesses it may not know the school has a defibrillator,
where it's kept, or how to access it. When a defibrillator is
registered and 999 is called, the ambulance service can rapidly
provide directions to the nearest available device. This
avoids losing crucial, potentially lifesaving minutes.
Registration is quick, free to do, and could help save a life.”
Notes to editors:
1.A defibrillator is a device placed externally on the body to
deliver an electric shock when a person is in cardiac arrest —
when the heart suddenly stops pumping blood around the body.
Prompt defibrillation can help save a life.
2.Since March 2022, teaching CPR and AED awareness has been a
compulsory element of Learning for Life and Work for pupils at
Key Stage 3 in Northern Ireland.
3.The Community of Lifesavers Programme provides post-primary
teachers with face-to-face professional learning in CPR and AED
skills and is delivered by the Education Authority. The pupil
education programme was developed by CCEA in partnership with the
Department of Education and the Northern Ireland Ambulance
Service. An interactive app has also been introduced to help
children and young people build confidence in these vital skills,
and is free to download from Apple Store and Google Play.
