The growing need for AEDs in UK schools

Sudden Cardiac Arrest is among the biggest killers of young people in the UK, with 12 people under the age of 35 dying from SCA each week in our country (Cardiac Risk in the Young). With so many healthy young people losing their lives every year, it is only natural that a huge effort is taken to combat this as a nation.

Sadly, we can not yet effectively predict cardiac arrest in many cases, meaning that the best we can do is be prepared to take action when someone has suffered a cardiac arrest. This means having a defibrillator nearby and people who are confident in using one - for children and teenagers, they spend most of their young lives in school, so AEDs in schools just make sense.

What is Sudden Cardiac Arrest?

Sudden Cardiac Arrest refers to the abrupt cessation of the heart beating in an effective rhythm, it is usually caused by an arrhythmia and results in immediate loss of consciousness and death within minutes without treatment.

When someone is in cardiac arrest, they will not be breathing normally and their heart will not be beating effectively. As a result, oxygenated blood will not be being pumped to their vital organs and permanent damage or death occurs within minutes.

How is a cardiac arrest treated?

The only definitive treatment for cardiac arrest is a shock from an Automated External Defibrillator, which must be given within minutes of collapse to be effective. After checking for signs of responsiveness and breathing, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) should be given while someone calls 999 and fetches an AED.

For every minute that someone is in cardiac arrest without CPR or a shock, their chances of survival fall by 10%. If a shock from a defibrillator is given within 3 to 5 minutes of collapse, survival rates can be as high as 74%, underlining the need for accessible AEDs to be nearby in every public place - including schools.

What is an Automated External Defibrillator?

An Automated External Defibrillator, or AED is a medical device, designed to analyse the heart’s rhythm and deliver a shock to someone who is suffering a cardiac arres. Modern AEDs are designed to be simple enough that any untrained person can use them, as it is vital that in a cardiac arrest, bystanders who may not be trained take part in the rescue to ensure the fastest response possible and therefore the best chance of survival.

You will have likely seen AEDs out in public, and may not have noticed - in the UK, public AEDs are usually housed in yellow cabinets in places such as shopping centres, parks and gyms.

The picture in UK schools

While many schools in the UK have opted to purchase AEDs for on-site, there is still no legislation to enforce or standardise the purchase and maintenance of defibrillators. In 2022, the government announced plans to provide every state funded school in the UK with a defibrillator by the end of the 2023 academic year.

In March 2023, a 14-year-old girl tragically died at a school in Essex after suffering a cardiac arrest in a PE lesson. The pupil, named locally as Kayla Ere, was airlifted to hospital where she sadly died.

While it is not known whether Kayla’s school had a defibrillator on site and attempted resuscitation prior to emergency service’s arrival, it is clear that these pieces of lifesaving kit do need to be in schools as there is a very present and tragic danger that young people are not immune to.

Can this be improved?

A Freedom of Information request carried out by the Welsh broadcaster S4C found that most local authorities in Wales had no record of which schools had defibrillators on site which could raise questions around whether these devices are being maintained regularly and can be signposted to in an emergency.

As well as having the devices at every school in the UK, we believe teachers and pupils alike should be given training on how to use AEDs. While these pieces of kit are designed to be used by anyone, training to build confidence can increase the chances of someone acting in an emergency.
Teachers and students should also be given training in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), CPR is vital to buy time for someone in cardiac arrest as it keeps blood pumping around vital organs until an AED can be used.

In March 2025, we donated training equipment for, and attended a session at Irlam and Cadishead Academy in which pupils were taught how to deliver CPR on a training manikin as well as being given some hands-on experience with our training defibrillators.

Where can we go from here?

The Resuscitation Council UK estimated in 2023 that around 20,000 defibrillators had been provided to over 18,000 schools as part of the government’s rollout. There are over 32,000 schools in the UK as of the 2023/2024 academic year, these statistics show there is still work to be done to make sure every school has an AED.

Just having an AED on site may not be enough, both teachers and pupils need the confidence and knowledge to provide aid during a cardiac arrest. Adding CPR and first aid to the national curriculum would help with this.

Since 2003, Imperative Training has been working to educate people across the UK on how to recognise and respond to a cardiac arrest. We offer a range of training courses which can be delivered anywhere in the UK by our team of certified trainers.