Defibrillators in police vehicles

Summary

That this House expresses alignment with the APPG for Defibrillators' recommendation that all emergency vehicles should be fitted with defibrillators; notes concern that only 1 in 11 police cars carry automated external defibrillators (AEDs), and some forces have coverage of less than 1.5% of vehicles; recognises that police officers are often among the first emergency responders at incidents of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), particularly in rural areas, at road traffic accidents, public cardiac arrests, and domestic incidents; further notes that Resuscitation Council UK highlights that defibrillation within three to five minutes of collapse can produce survival rates of 50-70%, significantly above the UK OHCA survival rate; also notes that 27% of the most deprived areas have a public-access defibrillator compared with 45% of the most affluent areas; believes that consistent AED provision in police response vehicles could help to reduce inequalities in access and improve the effectiveness of OHCA response; and calls on the Government, in light of the Minister for Policing and Crime’s comments during the Westminster Hall debate on 8 July 2026, to use the establishment of the National Police Service and its national procurement functions to introduce a national minimum standard for AEDs in operational police response vehicles.

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Timeline

1. 13 October 2026

   Early Day Motion

   That this House expresses alignment with the APPG for Defibrillators' recommendation that all emergency vehicles should be fitted with defibrillators; notes concern that only 1 in 11 police cars carry automated external defibrillators (AEDs), and some forces have coverage of less than 1.5% of vehicles; recognises that police officers are often among the first emergency responders at incidents of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), particularly in rural areas, at road traffic accidents, public cardiac arrests, and domestic incidents; further notes that Resuscitation Council UK highlights that defibrillation within three to five minutes of collapse can produce survival rates of 50-70%, significantly above the UK OHCA survival rate; also notes that 27% of the most deprived areas have a public-access defibrillator compared with 45% of the most affluent areas; believes that consistent AED provision in police response vehicles could help to reduce inequalities in access and improve the effectiveness of OHCA response; and calls on the Government, in light of the Minister for Policing and Crime’s comments during the Westminster Hall debate on 8 July 2026, to use the establishment of the National Police Service and its national procurement functions to introduce a national minimum standard for AEDs in operational police response vehicles.

   Source: Early Day Motion

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Sponsors

• Steve Darling · Liberal Democrat · Primary sponsor

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