Great Western Hearts

Our mission is to save more lives with community defibrillators and training

Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC) have partnered with The Heartbeat Trust UK to launch a new lifesaving automated external defibrillator package. The collaboration means it's easy for you to place a defibrillator on your building or in your street. So if someone suffers a cardiac arrest nearby, your defibrillator could save their life.

The package is perfect for you and your community because it includes:

  • Training for you and your members
  • Support with ongoing maintenance
  • As much help as you need to fundraise the amount needed to pay for it

You have the option to buy the package outright, fundraise towards the total, or a combination of the two to make it as easy as possible to get a defibrillator into your community.

Why get an automated external defibrillator?

Every year in the UK 30,000 people suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. For every minute that passes without defibrillation and CPR, a person's chance of survival goes down by 10%. Sadly, less than 1 in 10 survive.

An automated external defibrillator is an easy-to-use medical device that can deliver an electrical shock, or defibrillation, to someone who is in cardiac arrest. It is an essential part in trying to save their life. CPR should be done until a defibrillator reaches the person. Right now, only 40% of people receive early CPR and fewer than 2% have a defibrillator used prior to the ambulance arriving. The availability of defibrillators and the knowledge of how to use them is inadequate.

We simply need more defibrillators in our communities.

By placing a defibrillator in your building or street you are increasing the chance of survival for someone suffering a cardiac arrest nearby. You will help to play a part in ensuring more lives are saved. Lives like those of Steve, Trevor and Chris.

Together, we can save lives

We want anyone who suffers a cardiac arrest to receive immediate CPR and defibrillation within 5 minutes. As a result of this, and other clinical care, there will be fewer avoidable and needless deaths in our communities. A defibrillator in your local community will strengthen the links in the chain of survival for someone who is suffering a cardiac arrest nearby.

Our crew brought early advanced care to over 500 people suffering a cardiac arrest in 2023, representing 25% of our incidents for that year. Despite the extraordinary level of medical skill our crew bring to the scene, it's what happens prior to our arrival that can save a life.

Contact us at hearts@gwaac.com or on: 0303 4444 999 and we can guide you through the process.

What is included in our lifesaving defibrillator package?

For £1,705 your members and your community will benefit from:

  • A Zoll Automated Defibrillator  – for inexperienced users that will deliver shocks automatically and includes a 8-year warranty    
  • A high-quality polycarbonate, heated, and branded external cabinet ensures this public access defibrillator is stored safely for when it is needed. The charity branding is highly visible to increase awareness of its presence and ensure it is recognisable as a clinical device     
  • Training – through our partners and our Great Western Hearts CPR training project, we will ensure you and your community are confident in delivering CPR and how to use a defibrillator. We will also provide you with an online training course and resources
  • Registration – we will help you register your defibrillator with the local ambulance trust and through The Circuit so 999 operators can direct people to it
  • Insurance and ease ­– GWAAC will insure the asset against public liability claims and help you order everything you need so that we can focus on…
  • ..a good news story – you’re doing something amazing for your local community and we want to help you shout about it. Through press releases, blog articles, and your launch day, we’ll help your share the news.
  • Understanding your impact – this is a defibrillator for life. You will join Great Western Hearts and as a part of this community we will periodically update you on the difference your support is making
  • Fundraising resources – we will support you with branded collection tins, assist in the creation of an online fundraising page, provide posters, leaflets, volunteers, and event advice to ensure you can hit your fundraising target. When you display your defib, your community will be rightly proud of it and continue to support the fundraising target to ensure pads/batteries are replaced when they expire

You will also be supporting your local lifesaving air ambulance charity, enabling our crew to provide the next layer of care that the person suffering a cardiac arrest needs. Together, we can do more.

Contact us at hearts@gwaac.com or on: 0303 4444 999 and we can guide you through the process.