JumpStart Campaign: This simple change could save thousands of lives

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests claim thousands of lives in the UK each year. The JumpStart Campaign is seeking to change this. Currently, lifesaving defibrillators are unevenly distributed across the country. Meanwhile, those devices that have been installed in public spaces are not always accessible or properly maintained. To tackle these issues, the campaign is calling on the government to make defibrillators mandatory in all new vehicles and to do so via a simple change in the law.

Understanding the issue

Every year, there are more than 40,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK. Tragically, less than 1 in 10 people survive. However, these survival rates could be dramatically improved through a change to the Automatic External Defibrillators (Public Access) Bill.

Discover more via the infographic released recently by the campaign:

With out-of-hospital cardiac arrests on the rise, swift action needs to be taken. The JumpStart campaign presents a clear way forward with its proposal to include defibrillators in all new vehicles – an idea which was conceived by Jonathan Harris.

Jon McLeod, campaign director of JumpStart, comments: ‘Mandating defibrillators in new vehicles would turn the UK’s car fleet into a life-saving public health resource, putting a defibrillator within reach in communities across the country, around the clock.’