to go until debate

The Bill

On Friday 27th January, Members of Parliament will debate a bill in the House of Commons regarding the availability of lifesaving defibrillators across the Country.

The Defibrillators (Availability) Bill will receive its second reading over 5 hours in the House of Commons, we need you to ensure that your MP is able to attend and vote in favour of changing the law.

The Bill will require all schools to have a lifesaving defibrillator, which will inevitably save lives.

In March 2011, 12-year-old Oliver King was winning a swimming race at King David High School in Liverpool, when he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest that proved fatal. Without access to a defibrillator for 24 minutes until Paramedics arrived, his chances of survival dramatically dropped with every minute that went by.

His family and friends decided to focus their efforts on changing the law, after e-petitions, debates in Westminster Hall, meetings with senior Government Ministers and MPs, we are delighted that the House of Commons will now vote on whether or not to change the law.

We firmly believe, having put out over 1000 defibrillators since Oliver's death, that this lifesaving law will save lives for generations to come.

Our statement is quite clear - 'we will not stop until every single school in the UK has access to a lifesaving defibrillator, to ensure that no other family has to suffer a similar loss to that of Oliver King.'

The Facts:

- 82 people suffer a sudden cardiac arrest every single day, sadly less than 8 survive

- 270 children die every year after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest at school

- 12 young people a week die from Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome

- During a cardiac arrest - for every minute that passes without CPR and Defibrillation, chances of survival drop by up to 10%

- Without immediate treatment, 90% of sudden cardiac arrest victims will die

- Automatic External Defibrillators are designed to be picked up and used by any untrained bystander, as the machine will talk the user through all stages, and will not allow a shock unless it detects an abnormal heart rhythm

Download our letter to send to your local MP. To find out who your MP is, enter your postcode in the box to the right. This will tell you the name of your MP, find their email, copy and paste the letter and send it over. Please send us a copy of any replies you receive!

Key provisions in the bill:

All UK schools will be required to have a defibrillator by 2020: both primary and secondary education premises will have lifesaving defibrillators on-site and ready to use in the event of cardiac arrest situation
Schools will have a duty to co-operate: The Department for Education currently recommends all UK schools have a defibrillator on-site, following our work in 2013. This bill would legally require schools to have a defibrillator, better preparing them for a cardiac arrest situation

How you can get involved:

Find out who your local MP is, contact them to attend the debate on Friday 27th January
Express your support for the bill via social media (#DefibsSaveLives), as well as your local press, MP and Councillors
Are you a charity, organisation, teacher/headteacher, governor, MP, Councillor, cardiologist, professional or Parent that can endorse this campaign? Get intouch with us along with your location (please use the form below)
Can you share your story of how sudden cardiac arrest has affected you or your family?

Why this bill is needed:

The Defibrillators (Availability) Bill would ensure all children and young people in schools have best chance of survival in a cardiac arrest situation, removing any postcode lottery chance of having accessing to a lifesaving defibrillator
12 young people in the UK die every week from SADS and other undetected heart conditions that cause cardiac arrest
This Bill would ensure lifesaving defibrillators are available in every single school and therefore available for community use right across the UK in a cardiac arrest situation
The Oliver King Foundation has placed over 1000 lifesaving defibrillators – 11 have been used to save lives within 4 years
This bill has the support of many cardiac arrest charities, survivors, families of those who have died, schools, headteachers, Cardiologists, Councillors, MPs, school governors, parents and campaigners

Key points to raise in the debate:

The Defibrillators (Availability) Bill will save lives – both young and old. 12 young people every week die in the UK from cardiac arrest. The introduction of this bill will give all sufferers of cardiac arrest the best chance of survival and will eliminate the postcode lottery most communities face with current availability
Cardiac arrest situations can happen at any time - without warning. 12-year-old Oliver was winning a swimming race as his occured
The Department for Education recommends all schools have a defibrillator and with good reason. However, there is no statutory obligation and many schools still have not acted
Defibrillators in schools has a great deal of support from both public and professional bodies. The Oliver King petition launched in 2012 reached over 110,000 signatures and the suggestion of defibrillators in schools has universal backing from professional organisations and figures
Most heart conditions go undetected until it is too late and most have no cure. The need for lifesaving defibrillators will not go away, people will keep on dying from cardiac arrest, and without a defibrillator, these people do not have the best chance of survival
Schools are currently required to have fire extinguishers, when you are urged to vacate the premises during a fire - whereas during a cardiac arrest you are advised to call for medical help and get stuck in to CPR and early defibrillation.