OWNERS of publicly-accessible defibrillators in the area are being encouraged to register their devices on a national database.

Several health organisations and charities – including the British Heart Foundation, St John Ambulance and Resuscitation Council UK – are backing use of The Circuit.

The network helps emergency services direct bystanders more quickly to a defibrillator when someone collapses with a cardiac arrest.

There are around 3,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in Yorkshire each year, but just one in 11 people survive.

Immediate CPR and defibrillation can more than double a person’s chances of survival.

However, public-access defibrillators are used in less than one in ten out-of-hospital cardiac arrests – often because the ambulance service hasn’t been told about the device.

Dr Julian Mark, for Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said: “Delivering a shock from a defibrillator as soon as possible after a cardiac arrest gives patients the best chance of survival. The Circuit will show us the location of the nearest defibrillator available for public use – which may be in a local shop, restaurant or office block – and allow us to direct callers to collect it and treat patients who have suffered a cardiac arrest in the community.”

Registering on The Circuit is free. Visit thecircuit.uk.