Longford County Council elected members vote to create County Register of Defibrillators

Longford County Council elected members vote to create County Register of Defibrillators
Local groups and organisations invited to register AEDs through online form 

Press Release
20 June 2023

Longford County Council is establishing a central county-wide register for automated external defibrillators (AEDs).

The creation of this register was unanimously supported by all elected members at a recent meeting of Longford County Council.

Community, sporting, and voluntary groups as well as local business and not-for-profit organisations are all invited to gather details of any defibrillators that are local to them and to register them by filling in an online form. To be included in the register, details must be submitted by 4pm on Wednesday, 12 July 2023.

There are hundreds of these lifesaving devices dotted around County Longford, however, it’s not widely known where they all are. This register will collate the location data of each AED and make it publicly available on the Longfordcoco.ie website for mapping and accessing by locals and visitors alike.

It’s also envisaged that the data will be made available through the Longford Text Alert app where people will be able to quickly identify the AED nearest to them based on their location.

Cathaoirleach of Longford County Council Cllr Turlough McGovern says he thinks it’s a wonderful idea. “We live in a rural county and every little helps when it comes to accessing these lifesaving devices as quickly as possible in an emergency. I was delighted to support this motion and I know that the ever-practical people of Longford’s commercial, community and voluntary sectors will do their best to get the detail in to make this valuable initiative work well.”

Longford County Council Chief Executive Paddy Mahon said, “This is another example of how, when communities and Longford County Council come together, something very positive and useful can be achieved.”  

The registration form will request location details including the following:

  • address of AED location including Eircode where available
  • GPS coordinates
  • description of setting to help people find device easily in an emergency
  • details on accessibility of device to public, for example, opening hours if inside a building
  • contact details for the individual/organisation/voluntary group behind the AED 

To submit your form, log on to this address and fill in the details: https://www.longfordcoco.ie/i-want-to-/register-a-defibrillator/

Longford County Council Civil Defence Officer Emma Reid said, “With this initiative, we are encouraging everybody to take this opportunity to find out where their nearest defibrillator is so that they already know in the event of an emergency.” 

“We also want to urge all local groups or businesses who have defibrillators to make sure they are up to date on all their maintenance checks. The last thing anyone would want is an AED that isn’t working in the event of an emergency. We are happy to help anyone that needs advice on using or maintaining their AED,” she concluded.

For further information on initiatives of Longford County Council, check out Longfordcoco.ie or follow Longford County Council on social media.