Lifesaving defibrillators installed on campus

Lifesaving defibrillators will be installed at 17 new locations across campus.

Image taken by: Leeds Medical Student Community First Responder

Defibrillator on campus September 2018

The move is part of the University’s ongoing commitment to improve health and safety provision for staff, students and the wider local community, and takes the total number of machines to 30.

Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is a leading cause of premature death, and occurs because the electrical rhythm that controls the heart is interrupted.

A defibrillator is a device that gives a high energy electric shock to the heart through the chest walls to someone who is in cardiac arrest. The quicker the patient can be given shocks in combination with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the greater the chance of successful resuscitation.

The new locations are detailed below and have been added to the campus map (click on the facilities tab), making it easier for anyone to locate the nearest defibrillator in the case of an emergency:

  • reception in CAPE
  • outside Roger Stevens
  • outside the Facilities Directorate building
  • outside the multi-storey car park
  • outside the Psychology building
  • outside Pure Café, Level 9 in Worsley
  • Miall reception
  • Conference Auditorium
  • Charles Morris reception area
  • Central Village reception area
  • Devonshire Hall reception area; and
  • outside Fairbairn House in Clarendon Road.

Defibrillators will be installed in the following locations during the coming months:

  • the courtyard of Clothworkers Court
  • Sir William Henry Bragg Building reception area
  • NEXUS reception area
  • outside the Henry Price reception area; and
  • Sports Park, Weetwood, to cover pitches and public access areas.

Defibrillators are easy to use and very effective – training is not required. A defibrillator unit will issue verbal instructions and guide the user through its use. The units will not issue a shock unless the heart requires it, so they cannot be used on someone not experiencing SCA.

Follow these steps if you are faced with an emergency:

  1. Call the University Security Services Team on 0113 343 2222 and they will ensure the Emergency Services are called.
  2. Follow their instructions – they will give you the code to open the external Defibrillator cabinet. Internal cabinets have no locks fitted and can be accessed directly in the event of an emergency, but Security Services MUST also be called.
  3. Seek help from another person to commence cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) while the defibrillator is obtained. If you are alone, commence CPR, if confident to do so, and await arrival of Security Services.
  4. Follow the instructions on how to use the defibrillator – a colleague from Security Services will arrive to assist at the scene. 

Dennis Hopper, Director Campus Development, said: “Strengthening the provision of defibrillators and increasing their accessibility across campus is a major step forward for the University.

“They have been located in publicly accessible areas of all large multi-floor buildings, and externally across campus, so they are easily accessible from all other buildings. They are bright and noticeable, which makes them easy to identify in an emergency.

“I’d advise staff and students, if they see a defibrillator located on campus, to stop a moment and familiarise themselves with the instructions printed on the outside casing.

“We are grateful for the partnership with Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS), which has been highly supportive of our ambition to increase the number of defibrillators across campus. We have registered the defibrillators on the NHS regional database, which means when the ambulance service is contacted in an emergency, it is able to immediately inform the caller of the nearest defibrillator unit.” 

Learn how to perform CPR and AED

If you are interested in training to perform CPR and use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), visit the Restart a Heart Day event – run in joint partnership between the Clinical Skills Education Team (CSET) in Leeds Institute of Medical Education and the medical student body – at 3-7pm on Wednesday 10 October outside Leeds University Union.

Leeds Medical Student CFR Scheme is a voluntary group of 40 medical students who have been trained by YAS as Community First Responders (CFRs). The group aims to have two trained volunteers on call as close to 24/7 as possible, to be dispatched to high priority 999 calls in the local area ahead of the arrival of ambulance crews.

The group is also increasingly involved in outreach and education, both on and off campus.

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