British Heart Foundation transforms cardiac emergency response with Microsoft Azure

British Heart Foundation (BHF) is the UK’s largest independent funder of heart and circulatory research. Striving for a future free from the fear of heart and circulatory diseases, BHF took a bold step to transform how ambulance services locate defibrillators, helping to save lives in communities.

Breaking barriers in emergency response

In a cardiac emergency, every second matters. The sooner a defibrillator is used, the higher the chance of survival. Yet, for ambulance service call handlers quickly guiding bystanders to the nearest device had its obstacles. Previously, the UK’s 14 ambulance services managed separate records, and only had visibility of defibrillators in their region, significantly impacting the ability of 999 call handlers to provide support in the event of a cardiac emergency in another region.

“You could have ambulance services that sit close to each other across county lines, but yet unable to help each other in the event of a cardiac arrest,” confirms Louise Walker from Isle of Wight Ambulance Service.

At the same time, BHF wanted to enable more registrations, eliminate some manual and time-consuming work for ambulance services, and improve data quality across the board.

Determined to increase the visibility of defibrillators and drive efficiency, BHF and their partners St John Ambulance, Resuscitation Council UK and the Association of Ambulance Service Chief Executives created The Circuit, the UK’s national defibrillator network. 

Turning data into lifesaving action

This innovative system changes how emergency services respond to cardiac arrests. The Circuit maps defibrillators across the country, allowing 999 call handlers to instantly locate the closest available device and direct a bystander to retrieve it, helping to ensure that every second is used to its full potential.

“With The Circuit, now we have a national picture of where defibrillators are,” says Helen Tennant, Operations Manager and Senior Product Owner at British Heart Foundation. “So, we can clearly see where the areas are that do not have access to a defibrillator and therefore help tackle health inequalities.” 

The Circuit is already helping to save lives.

“In the last six months, two lives have been saved in St Agnes in part thanks to the defibrillators being registered on The Circuit and being available for use by the public,” emphasises Paul Kimberley, Defibrillator Guardian and Paramedic.

Empowering public health with Microsoft

To create a system that could handle dynamic data at a national scale, BHF partnered with Microsoft. The Circuit was developed using Microsoft Azure, ensuring security, scalability, and reliability to support its growing network of registered defibrillators.

“Microsoft Azure platform has supported us to surpass 100,000 registered defibrillators,” says Richard Dodd, Technology Director at British Heart Foundation.

BHF has worked with Microsoft for over seven years, benefiting from its expertise and innovation and Microsoft product portfolio and access to subject matter expertise through dedicated account management and our strategic partnership.

“The Circuit demonstrates the role that technology can play to help save lives,” reflects Helen Tennant.

Expanding lifesaving access

While The Circuit has already had a profound impact, tens of thousands of defibrillators across the UK remain unregistered. The next step is to ensure that every defibrillator is mapped, accessible and ready to help save lives.

“It’s so important that defibrillators are registered. If we don’t know they’re there, how can we deploy somebody to help save a life?” emphasises Louise Walker.

“It’s also important defibrillator Guardians continue to look after their defibrillator and maintain their record on The Circuit and confirm status checks so that we know that their defibrillators are emergency ready and available to use,” continues Helen.

Through its ongoing collaboration with Microsoft, BHF is working to enhance the system’s capabilities, ensuring that The Circuit remains aligned to BHF mission and purpose. By leveraging Microsoft’s nonprofit tech support, BHF has access to Microsoft expertise as well as the ability to connect with other charities to explore new ways of using technology to help save lives.

“Our partnership with Microsoft is an important one,” concludes Richard Dodd. “We are able to deliver and innovate with respect to our medical strategy and ambition.”