With our ability to check who is on our doorstep, or turn our heating on remotely before we get home, why can the same not be said of defibrillator equipment?

It is estimated by ambulance services that up to 30% of community defibrillators could be inactive or not rescue-ready at any point in time. While some defibrillators now allow for remote monitoring in a corporate environment, this is largely impractical in a community setting, and certainly these systems are proprietary and do not communicate with national defibrillator governance systems like WebNos. The Community Heartbeat Trust charity, the leaders in community defibrillation, have therefore teamed with Dutch cabinet maker, Rotaid, to introduce new technology into the UK to help address these issues.

The ShockBox Rotaid 247 addresses the issues of rescue ready status and the deployment of defibrillators. Aiding and supporting communities and clubs across the UK with governance, sustainability and resilience, with the addition of remote monitoring in community defibrillation.

The new range of cabinets has built-in facilities to monitor a defibrillator and notify the authorised responders and caretakers in the community via email and SMS in real time. These include: when the cabinet has been opened; the defibrillator removed from the cabinet, or notify you when a deployed defibrillator has been returned to the cabinet; if there is a service issue with the AED; in addition, it can also monitor the temperature of the cabinet, and allow the heaters to be controlled remotely, turning up in exceptionally cold weather.

This gives ultimate reassurance regarding the equipment and ensures it is available and rescue ready, regardless of the defibrillator type and/or whether the defibrillator has its own monitoring or not. The service is backward compatible too, meaning you do not need to replace your defibrillator.

In Community Heartbeat Trust's experience, other systems designed trying to achieve similar aims have been limited, expensive, fixed and have not been specifically adapted for use with different types of defibrillators.  This is where the 247 shines above all other systems.

The cabinet is initially programmed for a particular type of defibrillator, but can also be reprogrammed easily and remotely should a community decide to change or replace the defibrillator. This feature gives longevity in the monitoring and the life of the cabinet and offers the convenience of being able to make sure defibrillators are looked after in a simple effective, manner while remaining easily accessible in an emergency. The programming has also been designed to allow for future expansion and changes in technology as well.

The ShockBox Rotaid 247 is designed and built from high strength polycarbonate, with a built-in heating system and optional alarm system. With bright Yellow LEDs, the cabinet will always be locatable even in the darkest of places. 247 will monitor the defibrillator 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Any time the cabinet is accessed or a change is detected, the caretaker will be notified. If a community has a CFR group or village volunteers, then Rotaid 247 can notify them as well as also notifying the local ambulance service control that the defibrillator has been activated, even before the 999 call. This therefore addresses one of the major concerns ambulance services have with unlocked cabinets. Operational status is continuously checked and ensured. Any maintenance needs are automatically transmitted to those that need to know.

Rotaid 247 and Community Heartbeat assist the community in the registration, operation and maintenance of your system. This high technology solution is simple, effective, and coupled with the other services offered by Community heartbeat, enables a new chapter in community defibrillation.