On 9 February 2026 the South Central Ambulance Charity announced it had purchased 105 public access automated external defibrillators (AEDs) for communities in Oxford and across Oxfordshire. The units will be placed in schools, community centres and on local streets as part of a targeted rollout across the area.
AEDs analyse a patient’s heart rhythm and will deliver an electric shock only if a shockable rhythm is detected, making them suitable for use by bystanders at the scene of a cardiac arrest.
The devices will be registered on The Circuit, the national defibrillator network, so ambulance dispatchers can locate registered AEDs and — where the device is accessible and available — direct 999 callers to the nearest unit. South Central Ambulance Service can assist with registration (see their public access defibrillator guidance).
Data from the Resuscitation Council UK and recent national analyses show that fewer than one in ten people who suffer an out‑of‑hospital cardiac arrest survive to hospital discharge or 30 days. Early CPR and prompt use of an AED before the ambulance arrives can substantially improve those odds.
The charity expects all 105 units to be installed and operational by summer 2026. The project has been funded through community donations, legacy gifts and fundraising by the charity; the organisation has not published a full breakdown of individual donors or grants for this purchase.
