Concerns raised about community defibrillator following man's death in Northumberland
Concerns have been raised after a 93-year-old man died in a Northumberland village and a nearby defibrillator was allegedly found to be faulty.
Emergency services were called to Allendale on Friday following reports of an unwell man.
The North East Ambulance Service deployed a defibrillator but the machine was allegedly faulty and the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
The incident has prompted questions over the maintenance of the defibrillator and others.
According to the British Heart Foundation, defibrillators should have a designated “defib guardian” who regularly check the device to ensure it is ready for use in an emergency.
Defibrillators are mapped by a system known as the Circuit, which can help ambulance services direct a bystander to the nearest one.
A spokesperson at North East Ambulance Service said: “We were called to an incident in the Hexham area on Friday 16 August to reports of an unwell male. We dispatched two ambulance crews and one clinical team leader to the scene.
“We also deployed two defibrillators using a database made available to us from the British Heart Foundation.
“This database, known as The Circuit, shows all the community defibrillators that are ‘emergency ready’ to ambulance services across the country should they be needed.
“For this incident, the defibrillator was showing on The Circuit database as emergency ready and we deployed it accordingly.
“Community guardians are responsible for maintaining defibrillators in their care and updating The Circuit database. Guardians voluntarily provide important support to fund and maintain defibrillators in their communities.
“We will work closely with the current guardian and British Heart Foundation to look into this incident and to ensure that all procedures to maintain defibrillators are in place.”
It is understood that Northumbria Police investigations found the defibrillator was faulty and the ownership of the device was unclear.
A police spokesman said: “At around 12.40pm on Friday. August 16, we received a report via the ambulance service of concern for the welfare of a man in the Allendale area of Northumberland.
“Emergency services attended but sadly the 93-year-old man died at the scene. Officers are not treating the death as suspicious, and a report will be made for the coroner.”
A public meeting is being held at the King’s Head on Thursday to discuss the issue.
Cllr Colin Horncastle, member for the South Tynedale ward said: “Unless there is a guardian maintaining these devices, this is going to happen.
“It’s a bad situation. From a county council point of view, we can only purchase them, we can’t take control of them. I don’t think there’s anyone to blame, some of the devices have been there for many years.
“It’s very sad. It has brought to people’s attention that these devices need somebody to take ownership and maintain them properly.
“It’s better it is off the streets in case people think it is there. There is going to have to be a group of people who get together and check up on the ones that are still there and make sure someone is responsible.”
If defibrillation occurs within five minutes of cardiac arrest, a person has a survival chance of 50-70%. Fewer than 1 in 10 people survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, but immediate initiation of CPR can double or quadruple survival from out-hospital cardiac arrest.