The British Heart Foundation (BHF) has revealed the 10 locations across the UK in urgent need of more lifesaving defibrillators.
The list includes the Lanarkshire towns of Airdrie, Hamilton and Motherwell which have retrieval time to nearest defib is 6.50 minutes.
There are around 3800 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) each year in Scotland, but only one in 10 people survive. For every minute without defibrillation and CPR, OHCA survival chances decrease by up to 10%.
Installing a defibrillator in these areas can help lead to better outcomes as early CPR and defibrillation can more than double the chance of survival.
David McColgan, Head of BHF Scotland said: “When someone has a cardiac arrest, every second counts, and quick access to a defibrillator gives someone the best possible chance of survival before emergency help arrives.
“We’ve made great progress in placing more defibrillators in areas that need them, but there’s still so many communities, including some of the most deprived parts of Scotland, which are still too far away from the nearest lifesaving device that can have devastating consequences.
“That’s why we’re thrilled to relaunch our community defibrillator funding programme – to bring more defibrillators into the communities that need them most and hopefully save more lives from cardiac arrest.”
The charity is urgently encouraging eligible communities to apply to their 2026 scheme. Successful applicants will receive a defibrillator and cabinet, and installation costs will be covered where required.
Future replacement parts will be free of charge when they expire or are used in an emergency for up to 10 years.
Check eligibility and apply for a BHF-funded defibrillator for your community before February 2027 – by doing so, you could help save a life: bhf.org.uk/fundeddefib
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