Frequently asked questions

To register, you will need the following information about your defib:

• Address, location and surroundings
• Brand, model and serial number
• Times and dates when it's accessible
• Pad expiry dates
• Confirmation it is displaying its ready signal
• Access code (if applicable)

This information will allow you to register your defib and gives confidence to the ambulance services that your defibrillator is well maintained and will be emergency-ready if it is needed in an emergency.

For one or a small number of defibs, which you personally maintain and record checks for, choose a single guardian account. For organisations that have a network of defibs at multiple sites, usually with multiple guardians, it is best to choose a Multiple Guardians/Organisation account.

This account is for the Organisation Administrator to centrally upload their defibrillators, all nominated Guardians connected to a Multiple Guardians/Organisation account will need to create their own individual Single Guardian account to complete the registration of the defib they look after.

Previously, defibs were registered with local ambulance services in separate databases. The Circuit is a new database which has joined up all the previous databases into one central overview.

All 14 UK ambulance services are now using The Circuit, so if your defib is not registered on The Circuit, it is no longer registered with the ambulance services.

Yes - almost all defibs should be registered on The Circuit. During the registration process you will be able to indicate both times and days when the defib is available. You can also indicate a date range when the defib isn't available for example during a planned closure such as Christmas/New Year or when building work is being carried out.

Yes, you can register more than one defib on The Circuit in a Single Guardian Account.

If you have multiple defibs at multiple sites, with multiple Guardians, you may want to consider a Multiple Guardians/Organisation account.

Some models of defib have specific electrode pads suitable for paediatric use. A small number of defib models have a switch that sets the defib to paediatric mode but utilises the same pads. Normal adult pads can be used on a baby or child although placement of the pads will be different from the adult positioning that is indicated on the packaging.

The ambulance service call handler will provide guidance to the person making the 999 call. If the defib is located at a location where there is a higher chance of paediatric use then specific pads or a defib with paediatric mode are advisable e.g. child care facilities such as nurseries, infant or junior schools or entertainment venues popular with families such as theme parks, soft play or swimming pools.

You don't need to select that you have paediatric pads. By recording the Brand and Model of your defib, we know that you have a child setting available on your defib.

Location codes are now obsolete. We would advise you to put the What3Words address on the cabinet, all ambulance services now use this and if there is any doubt over the location of the caller, if they are at the cabinet, then they can read that out to the call handler and they can pin point the location.

We also recommend that you write the What3Words address and a contact phone number on the defib itself or on an attached label. This will assist the emergency services with returning the defib to you or the appropriate cabinet after it's been deployed.

You can update your personal details by logging into your account and clicking on the red icon on the upper right hand side of the screen. Here you will be able to click on the "Edit Profile" option which will open the page with your personal details so you can edit them. Click Save at the bottom of the screen once you've finished editing.

To change your email address you will need to transfer your defibs to your new email address and create an account with that email address. You can do this via 'Ask for support', when you login to your account (www.thecircuit.uk)

If you'd like to help, you need to ensure that you have selected that you have consented to being contacted by other Guardians. To do this, login to The Circuit and select the red person-shaped icon on the righthand side of the page and select 'Edit profile'.

In order to delete your account please transfer your defibs to a new Guardian before deleting your account to ensure that someone is looking after them and confirming they are emergency ready.

You should decide which one of you will be the main point of contact (Primary Guardian). This person should register the defib on The Circuit.

Once registered, the Primary Guardian can then invite others to become Supporting Guardians. You can do this by logging into your account on The Circuit and choosing 'Ask for support', from here you can invite Supporting Guardians to help manage the defib.

You can invite Supporting Guardians on The Circuit to help you manage your defib. We recommend asking someone you know to help.

To add them as a Supporting Guardian you will need to log into your account on The Circuit and choose 'Ask for support', from here you can invite Supporting Guardians via their email address. Alternatively, if you don't know anyone personally that can help, you can ask volunteers via The Circuit.

You can record a status check by logging into your account on The Circuit and choosing 'Status Check'. From here you can enter the date that you most recently checked your defibrillator and confirm it is 'Emergency Ready' for the Ambulance Service.

It is important to log status checks so that the ambulance service know that your defibrillator is emergency ready, it means they can confidentially send someone to your defibrillator in an emergency.

Your defib may have to be taken out of service because the pads are out of date, they may have been used in an emergency, the defib has been recalled, or many other reasons. You must record this on The Circuit so that the ambulance service know not to send anyone to your defibrillator in an emergency.

To do this, log into your account on The Circuit and choose 'Remove from service'. From here you can select the reason for making your defib not available. Don't forget, once your defib is emergency ready again to log onto The Circuit and complete a status check to reflect this.

You will receive an email from the Circuit letting you know that the ambulance service has sent someone to collect your defib and take it to an incident. If you receive the deployment email it's important that you check the defib has been returned to its normal location after the incident and whether the consumable items have been used. If they have they will need to be replaced.

Once the defib is back in its normal location and ready to be used again it's very important that you log back into your Circuit Guardian account and set the status of the defib back to "Emergency Ready" so the ambulance service know that it can be deployed to another life threatening incident.

If you believe that your defib has been used but you did not receive a deployment email from The Circuit this could indicate a number of things. Firstly the email will only be triggered if the ambulance service call handler marks the defib as having been deployed. If they don't do this but they have given instructions to a bystander then you wouldn't receive an email notification.

It is also possible that a bystander retrieves the defib without being asked to by the ambulance service because the patient's condition didn't indicate a clinical need for the defib. The ambulance service won't deploy defibs "just in case" as this may make the defib unavailable for an actual cardiac arrest.

If you've received The Circuit deployment email this indicates that the ambulance service have marked your defib as deployed on their despatch system. On checking the defib you may find that the pads are still unused and possibly that the defib does not even appear to have been removed from the cabinet or its normal storage place.

It may have been retrieved and an ambulance or a community first responder arrived at the patient before the bystander could get to the defib or return to the patient with it. Either way as long as your defib is still emergency ready then log into your Circuit Guardian account and reset the status to "Emergency Ready" so the ambulance service will know that its ok for it to be deployed again.

If you received a Circuit deployment email and the defib has not been returned to its normal location then there are a number of possibilities. The defib may have been retained by the ambulance service so they can download information recorded as the defib monitored the patient's heart rhythm.

Alternatively the defib may have been at the scene of the incident and removed for safekeeping by bystanders or the Police. Ensuring that the defibs location and a contact phone number or email address is marked on the defib, its case or an attached label will help to get it back to you whoever has ended up with the defib. If the defib is not returned within 24 hours then we would recommend getting in touch with your local ambulance service who should be able to help locate it.

If your defib is missing and you did not receive a deployment email you should also contact your local ambulance service. They will be able to see if there have been any incidents local to the defib at which it may have been used and if there haven't been any then you should report the defibs absence to the Police.

The defib deployment emails are triggered by the ambulance service when their call handlers ask a bystander at a cardiac arrest to retrieve the defib. The number of deployments for a defib will mainly be driven by its location is, e.g. in a city centre with a 24/7 economy vs a rural village.

If you feel your defib is being deployed excessively or its being deployed but never collected by a bystander then please contact your local ambulance service.

You can easily transfer your defibrillator by logging into your account on The Circuit and clicking 'Ask for support'. From here you can transfer your defibrillator by entering the new Guardian's email address. The new Guardian will need to create a new Single Guardian account and can accept their nomination once they have logged in.

If you are no longer able to look after a defibrillator and have no-one to transfer it to, you can connect with local volunteers who may be able to help. To do this, log in to your account on The Circuit and select 'Ask for support' from here you can 'Ask The Circuit to Help' and select volunteers in your local area to ask them to help.

It is the Guardian's responsibility to buy appropriate cabinets and replace expired batteries and pads. The Circuit is not able to provide these items.

You should contact the manufacturer or supplier to purchase these items. They will also be able to answer any questions you may have about your specific brand/model of defib.

Defibs do not need servicing. Most models of defibrillator run daily, weekly and monthly checks to ensure everything is in working order. Your defibrillator will let you know if there is an issue or fault, by not showing the emergency ready signal.

Get in touch with your defib manufacturer or supplier if you need any further assistance with a defib not showing an emergency ready signal.

The Circuit generates emails for key aspects of looking after your defib. For example it reminds you every three months to record a status check so the ambulance service knows your defib is still emergency ready. It also lets you know that your pad expiry date is approaching so you can order replacement pads.

One of the most important emails is the deployment notification. This will be sent to you when the ambulance service has marked your defib as deployed on their despatch system. The Circuit detects this and triggers an email so you can check whether the defib was used at an incident. If it was then you can replace any items that have been used and reset its status to emergency ready on your Guardian account.

You can't turn off email notifications from The Circuit as they play an important role in making sure your defib is kept emergency ready and able to help save a life in an emergency.

Once you have logged in to your Multiple Guardians/Organisation Admin account, you will be able to download an excel template which contains detailed instructions on what information you will need to upload and register your defibs.

To upload your defibs you need the following mandatory information:

• Guardian email address
• Location name (usually the name of your organisation)
• Postcode
• First line of address

To fully register your defib you, or your organisation Guardians will also need to supply the following information:

• Location and surroundings
• Brand, model and serial number
• Times when it's accessible
• Pad expiry dates
• Confirmation it is displaying its ready signal
• Access code (if applicable)

For organisations that would like a full overview of their defibs, the best person to open an Multiple Guardians/Organisation account is someone who needs a complete overview of all your organisation's defibs. They are someone that doesn't look after defibs on the ground, but instead is interested in the whole estate of defibs.

Once they have created their account, uploaded the organisations defibs and nominated the Guardians, to complete registration the Organisation Guardians will need to create their Single Guardian accounts, accept the nomination and complete the registration process for the defib(s) they look after.

For organisations that do not need an overview of their whole defib estate, they should encourage the Guardians of each defib to register using a Single Guardian account.

Once you have downloaded the spreadsheet, open it in Excel. Please take a look at the first the first tab which provides an explanation of how to use it. You will also see one of the tabs is an example of how the spreadsheet should look with the data added.

If you have a lot of defibs in your organisation we would recommend uploading maybe 10 or 50 to start with so you can get used to how it works. If you need further help then please contact us on NDNSupport@bhf.org.uk and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Our Org Admin Guide goes through the process step-by-step: www.bhf.org.uk/orgadminguide

The Circuit will allow you to upload data as long as you have filled in at least the four mandatory fields on the spreadsheet. However to complete registration the other important fields required by the ambulance service still need to be filled in. This is normally best achieved by nominating a Guardian who will be looking after the defib where its located.

It may well be much easier for them to access the defib itself to get the other data that's needed such as make, model, serial number & pad expiry dates.

Our Org Admin Guide goes through the process step-by-step: www.bhf.org.uk/orgadminguide

When you upload your defibs onto the Circuit one of the mandatory fields is the email address of the person who will be the Guardian of each defib. Once the upload is complete you can proceed to nominating the Guardians. This process will use the email address you have provided. You can do this either singly or in groups.

To nominate singly:

• On the "Defibrillators" page, click on the 3 dots option menu next to the defib and click on "Nominate Guardian."
• You can nominate a Guardian at any stage of upload state (e.g., missing data, duplicates, draft, registered) and the nominated Guardian can fill in any gaps in the data where its required

To nominate Guardians in bulk:

• Tick the box next to all the defibs you are ready to nominate a Guardian to, and select the button "Nominate Guardian". You can select multiple defibs even if they have different Guardians, in the same bulk nomination.

Our Org Admin Guide goes through the process step-by-step: www.bhf.org.uk/orgadminguide

When you complete a bulk upload of defibs, they will appear in a table format on the "Defibrillators" tab. Each will be assigned an upload state to show what stage of the process they are in:

Draft (Not Nominated)

Once the defib record has been successfully uploaded with no actions required or not identified as a potential duplicate the defib will be flagged as "Draft Not Nominated". This means that an email has NOT YET been triggered by you from the Circuit to the nominated defib Guardian. This email invites them to create their Guardian account and complete the defibs registration by following a link to The Circuit landing page.

Draft (Nominated)

The defib record has been successfully uploaded but not yet completed. You've triggered an email to be sent from the Circuit inviting them to create their Guardian account and add any remaining necessary information that allows the Registration to be completed. Once they have done this successfully the defib will become fully registered and will be visible to the ambulance services.

Action Required

When the record is incomplete and/or some of the data are invalid. It will be flagged to the Organisation and must be fixed before the defib registration will be complete on The Circuit.

Potential Duplicate

If there is another defib already registered to The Circuit at the same postcode as one you have uploaded, the defib will be flagged as a potential duplicate between the existing defib and the one you have uploaded. It may or may not be the same defib that you want to register through your organisation account. All duplicates must be checked before you can register your defib to make sure that we only end up with an accurate match between the Circuit and the actual defibs on the ground.

Pending

When checking for duplicate entries, if you identify one of the defibs already registered as being one that you have uploaded for your organisation you can contact the current Guardian of that defib to invite them to bring their defib into your organisation account.

Registered

This is the final state and means the defibs registration is complete and it is visible to the ambulance services. Once the defib is in this state all the Circuits functionality will activate including reminder emails, deployment notifications etc.

Our Org Admin Guide goes through the definitions in more detail: www.bhf.org.uk/orgadminguide

An organisation admin can add either a single new defib by clicking on "Add single defibrillator" and filling in each field or can click on "Upload new file" and upload one or more defibs using the Circuit upload spreadsheet.

If your company will cease to exist in the future and you need to remove your account on The Circuit, please contact us to discuss and advise on what your options and next steps are. ndnsupport@bhf.org.uk

The Circuit generates emails for key aspects of looking after the Guardians who, in turn, look after your organisation's defibs. You will receive email notifications confirming nominations being sent, accepted and declined to/by your nominated Guardians. You will also receive escalation emails if your Guardian do not carry out the required status check's which ensure their defib is emergency ready and emails when their pads are due to expire.

If you have an organisation account and perform a bulk action on multiple defibs (e.g. inviting multiple Guardians to look after organisation defibs) you will receive one email summarising this actions. For a Single Guardian account, this isn't possible.

Your account may have been rejected for a variety of reasons, maybe there is already an Organisation Administrator account holder for your organisation, or maybe you don't have enough defibs to warrant an organisation account. We will inform you by email why we have declined your account request. Please reply to this email if you have further questions.

There should only be one overarching account for each organisation. This will help reduce duplicates and gives one central view of all your organisations defibs in one place. If you also need a view of all your organisations defibs, you can contact your Organisation Administrator/Account Holder, who will be able to invite you to be an additional organisation account holder and have the same overview as them.

As part of the sign up process we aim to check that a Circuit organisation account is the right way to proceed. A company or charity number is a relatively quick way of checking an organisations credentials.

If you are a UK based company you can find your company number by searching Companies House www.gov.uk/get-information-about-a-company

UK based charities numbers can be found at:

• Charity Commission for England & Wales https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk
• The Scottish Charity Register www.mygov.scot/search-for-charity
• The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland www.charitycommissionni.org.uk/

If your organisation doesn't have one of these numbers you can write a brief statement to indicate the nature of your organisation e.g., Armed Forces, Local Authority, Community First Responder Group.

Almost all defibs registered on The Circuit can be seen on a map by accessing Defib Finder www.defibfinder.uk using a web browser on a computer, tablet or smartphone. This shows the location, accessibility and status of defibs.

Most changes to defib details will show on the Circuit within approximately an hour. A small number of changes such as the decommissioning of a defib are updated as part of an overnight routine.

Once you have successfully completed registering your defib on the Circuit it should be visible on Defib Finder within an hour. If not then try refreshing the page or closing the page and loading Defib Finder from scratch.

It can take an hour for defibs registered in The Circuit to show on Defib Finder. After an hour, if your defib is still not showing, it may because you have not consented to share this data when you signed up to The Circuit. Login and change your consent preferences. Once you have updated these, it will take 24 hours for Defib Finder to register these changes.

You do not need training to use a defib, they literally tell you what to do. The most important thing to do in the event of a cardiac arrest is to first call an ambulance, secondly, start CPR as soon as possible, and thirdly, use a defibrillator, the ambulance service call handler will be able to tell you where your closest one is, thanks to The Circuit.

If you would like to learn how to perform CPR and how to use a defibrillator there are a variety of different training options, including from the British Heart Foundation, Resuscitation Council UK and St John Ambulance. We recommend researching which option is most relevant to you.

Early CPR and defibrillation can sometimes double a person's chance of surviving an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Please try the following steps:

• Check your junk or spam inbox for the verification email - it may well be there
• If you are registering from a work email account or an email account managed by an administrator you may have firewalls in place to block certain emails. In this case you will need your IT administrator to resolve this so the verification email and all subsequent Circuit emails can be sent to you.
• Depending on the email system/firewall being used, they will need to add the email address noreply@thecircuit.uk to the Permitted Senders list/white list

The Circuit uses the same information for addresses and postcodes as all the UK emergency services, the Ordnance Survey's "Address Base". If the Postcode you are entering is not recognised by the Circuit then it's not showing as a live Postcode on Address Base. This does not mean that the Post Office wouldn't deliver a letter if that Postcode were used in the address but it does mean that you will need to manually enter the address details for your defibs location by selecting the "Address not listed" option.

If you have no postal address for your defibs location then you should identify the nearest location with an identifiable postal address and enter that initially. Then from the Defibrillator details page scroll down and click on the "Add map location" button. This will open a simple map view showing a location marker. You can zoom out/in on the map and move the location marker so that it accurately reflects where your defib is located. You will be given the opportunity to either keep the original address you entered or select a suggested address that Address Base recognises as being the closest to the point selected.

While the defib address is a useful part of the registration process it is not used by the ambulance service when they are directing someone to collect the defib in an emergency. The recorded point on the map and the description of where the defib is are the most important information recorded by the Guardian for successful defib deployment.

If you are having any issues editing or updating information on The Circuit, try using another device such as a tablet or phone, or try using a different browser such as Google Chrome of Microsoft Edge.

Please note the Multiple Guardians/Organisation account is only available on a computer or laptop and not on a mobile device.