To ask the Minister for Communities what steps she has taken to provide sports clubs and organisations with defibrillators.

You may be aware that in 2015 my colleague Carál Ní Chuilín MLA gave a commitment to increase the number of accessible automated external defibrillators (AEDs) at community level through sport. As a result, my Department invested circa £940,000 to support the aims of the Community Resuscitation Strategy over the period 2016 to 2018. This funding has also contributed significantly towards ‘Creating a Community of Lifesavers’.

The two year programme called ‘Defibrillators for Sport’, aimed to increase the number of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) available in community settings by allocating over 1290 free AED devices to sports clubs and community groups across the north. Successful applicants also received CPR training and instructions on the safe usage and maintenance of their new devices with over 1000 people being trained.

The defibrillators were distributed through Sport NI to Sports Clubs and Community Groups with the aim that use of the AEDs would not only cover incidents related to Club activities but that the defibrillators would also be available for community use in the event of local emergencies.

The AEDs distributed to clubs and organisations have been included in mapping exercise by the Ambulance Service who recorded the locations of all the devices. This enables accurate information to be given by their operators when an emergency call is received.