Bavaria launches registry to speed up access to defibrillators
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In Bavaria, Germany, the Björn-Steiger-Stiftung and Landtagsabgeordneter Bernhard Seidenath announced a new initiative to create a registry of defibrillators. They aim to make information about the locations of these life-saving devices readily available to the public and emergency services.
The project addresses the problem that thousands of defibrillators exist in public places, like schools and banks, but are often unused during emergencies because people cannot find them quickly.
The Bavarian state government will provide 340,000 euros to support the development of this registry. Approximately 65,000 people in Germany experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital each year, and quick intervention with a defibrillator could save more than 10,000 lives. Pierre-Enric Steiger, president of the Björn-Steiger-Stiftung, explained that a sudden cardiac arrest doesn’t consider who is nearby to help, and first responders are usually not medical professionals.
The registry will collect data on defibrillator locations and share it with map providers and emergency dispatch centers. The initiative, called “Herzsicher” (heart secure), is designed as a collaborative effort. Organizers are asking anyone who operates a defibrillator to register their device. The completed Bavarian registry may serve as a model for a nationwide system, building on existing but incomplete efforts like OpenAEDMap, a global overview of defibrillator locations.
The registry will provide detailed location data to map providers and share access codes for indoor devices with emergency services.
