Best Practice

Defibrillators in schools – a legal viewpoint

Legal advice Pupil wellbeing
With more than 600 young people a year dying from cardiac arrests, a campaign is calling for defibrillators to be placed in schools. Legal expert Katrina Boyd considers the implications of medical emergencies in schools.

Would your school’s staff know how to react in the event of a pupil, staff member or visitor suffering a cardiac arrest?

Currently, there is no legal requirement for places of education to have access to a defibrillator. 

However, campaigners are pushing for new laws to bring about the introduction of defibrillators in all public places, including schools – and some schools have already decided to install the devices.

The issue has been making headlines due to young people dying from Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) while in school. Every year, more than 600 young people in the UK die from SCA – with almost half of these deaths taking place in schools.

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