Communities across Northern Ireland, in particular north Belfast and Ballymoney, are being urged to apply for a free lifesaving defibrillator.
Over the past 10 years, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) has helped fund 84 defibrillators across the north.
There are around 1,400 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests every year in Northern Ireland and tragically, less than one in 10 people survive.
Early CPR and defibrillation is vital to give someone the best chance of survival and the BHF wants everyone to have that opportunity of survival from a cardiac arrest, no matter where they live.
There are over 96,000 defibrillators registered on ‘The Circuit’, the national defibrillator network, but they are not evenly distributed.
Data has shown more deprived communities need better support to help improve response times to an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
Launching its ‘Community Defibrillator Funding Programme’, the charity is particularly eager to receive applications from community groups in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast and Newhill in Ballymoney.
The BHF said at present these areas have no defibrillator registered on ‘The Circuit’, based on available data on defibrillator locations.
Fearghal McKinney from BHF NI said: “When someone has a cardiac arrest, every second counts - early access to a defibrillator is vital to give someone the best chance of survival.
“Although we have made progress, there are still too many communities that lack quick and easy access to a defibrillator.
“With the reopening of this fund, more communities will now have access to a defibrillator that can save lives.”
Communities are invited to apply for their free defibrillator on the BHF website https://www.bhf.org.uk/defibfunding
