While you may assume that cardiac arrests are reserved for older people, this simply isn’t the case. Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is a leading cause of death among people under 30 in the UK, including school children.

An estimated 270 children die every year in the UK from SCA, emphasising the need for awareness and equipment to be present in all schools.

Defibrillators can now be seen in most bars, restaurants, leisure centres and parks, but without any prior knowledge of Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA), people may walk by these life-saving devices without even realising what they are.

The UK has more than 80,000 Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) which are available to the public, while this number might sound high - the nearest defibrillator to any address on average is a 19 minute walk from any given postcode in the UK.

Cardiac Arrest is one of the most serious medical emergencies someone can suffer, and is invariably fatal without prompt treatment. Less than 1 in 10 Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrests (OHCA) are survived currently, but CPR and an AED shock greatly increases these figures.

The most important factor around the use of an AED is the time from collapse to shock, if shocked within 3-5 minutes of collapse, survival rates can be as high as 74%. This requires a nearby AED, so where would the ‘safest’ place to suffer a cardiac arrest be in the UK?

A 2023 study from the European Society of Cardiology found that, on average, the nearest defibrillator is a 19-minute round walk from any given postcode in the UK. This is far longer than the ideal response time for the best chance at survival, but some areas have a much higher number of defibrillators per population.

Picture this situation: a member of the public collapses in front of you, they are not breathing and have no pulse. Remembering your First Aid training, you recognise this as a cardiac arrest, begin Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and call 999 who refer you to the nearest Automated External Defibrillator (AED) to your location.

After sending another bystander to collect the AED, you attach the electrodes to the casualty’s chest and wait for the device to analyse. The AED recommends a shock, and ultimately delivers three shocks before the casualty regains a heartbeat and is taken to hospital.

What seems like a heroic act to almost everyone may have actually been against the wishes of the person who suffered the cardiac arrest. So, can they actually take legal action against you for saving their life if they didn’t want you to?