Recently there has been a lot of raised awareness about defibrillators and how making them accessible in public places can help save lives should anyone collapse.

As a number of people travel by public transport, Scotrail have been adding defibrillators to its stations across Scotland, amongst the latest stations to receive the life-saving apparatus are Arrochar, Crianlarich, Dumfries, Dunbar and Nairn. This has taken the number of Scotrail stations fitted with defibrillators to 87.

Maps of the ScotRail network have been updated to notify the public which stations have defibrillators installed. These are indicated with a green heart by the station’s name.

Registered with the Scottish Ambulance Service, the Defibrillators are available 24/7.

They are all linked to The National Defibrillator Network, so if 999 is called, the caller and give instructions to the dialler as to the location of a machine if they don’t know where it is at the station, while simultaneously dispatching emergency services to the scene.

Defibrillators are used to restore and stabilise a correct and regular heart beat to anyone that has suffered a heart attack.

Their design and easy to follow instructions ensure that members of the public can potentially save someone’s life by using the machine before professional medics and emergency services arrive.

With a great number of remote stations across Scotland, these machines are extremely important to remote communities who live miles from any major health centre, and ScotRail’s roll out of these machines at their stations to ensure they are readily available when someone needs one.

“ScotRail recognises that in an emergency, a defibrillator can make the difference between life and death, and we are delighted to have been able to install so many of them at stations across the network.  

“With all of our new devices registered on the national network, it means that if anyone is need of urgent medical care, they will get that vital support when they need it most.  

“We’re delighted to be supporting communities throughout Scotland, and this latest roll-out ensures that 87 of our stations now have a machine.” 

David Lister, ScotRail Safety and Sustainability Director