Ruardean residents alarmed by locked defibrillator cabinet

Steph Passey said being unable to access the potentially life saving equipment had "really scared" her

Residents in the Forest of Dean have said they are worried lives could be compromised because of ongoing issues with unlocking defibrillator cabinets.

In the village of Ruardean Steph Passey was on the phone to the emergency services for 40 minutes trying to get hold of the code to unlock it.

Fortunately her relative did not need it but she said it was the third time access issues had occurred in 2021.

The parish council has apologised and said it was working on a resolution.

• What do I need to know about defibrillators?

• Footballers support defibrillator campaign

• Defibrillators 'must be accessible' in football

'Really scary'

Mrs Passey called 999 on Tuesday and was connected to West Midlands Ambulance Service rather than its counterpart in the south west.

She said the operator tried numerous departments but could not find the correct access code to open the box in the 40 minutes she was on the phone.

South West Ambulance Service has since said it had the code but advised the onus on sharing information for private defibrillators was on the owner, which in this case was the local community.

The defibrillator cabinet in Ruardean requires a code to open it

Mrs Passey told BBC Points West: "It was really scary and sent me into a bit of a panic.

"Basically they couldn't get the code for it, after going round several different departments.

"And having to recall 999 and being on the call for about 40 minutes I still didn't manage to have access to the code.

"I'm very scared to be honest.

"A lot of my family live in the village so this could happen again and it could be fatal next time."

The ambulance service said not all cabinets were locked and cited the example of a defibrillator about 14 minutes away that could be accessed at any time.

The issue of code sharing is being addressed with the establishment of a national database called the circuit, set up by the British Heart Foundation.

Posting on Facebook, the parish council said it was "sorry that this is still causing difficulties" and said the council was "doing all they can to sort it".

It is the third such issue with defibrillator access in Ruardean this year, the BBC has been told.

South West Ambulance Service said in the latest case there was no cardiac arrest and in that instant the defibrillator was not required.