St John Ambulance Isle of Man Launches ‘Rescue Ready’ Defibrillator Maintenance Initiative

The initiative aims to keep defibrillators across the island in use to ensure the life-saving machines are readily available.

St John Ambulance Isle of Man has launched their ‘Rescue Ready’ defibrillator maintenance packages. Guardians of machines across the island can take advantage of the scheme and ensure that their machines remain active and available for use.

Due to recent events and public feedback, the charity has expedited the launch of the scheme to ensure that defibrillators are ‘Rescue Ready’.

Guardians of machines can choose from four annual subscription packages depending on their needs. The tiered packages offer a range of features that can be tailored to the unique requirements of each organisation or community to offer peace of mind to guardians and members of the public.

St John Ambulance Isle of Man already stocks replacement pads and batteries for most defibrillator makes and models at their headquarters, and can order any stock that isn’t readily available for delivery within days.

The charitable organisation also runs an AED (Automated External Defibrillation) course that covers basic life support so that members of the public can feel capable and confident to act quickly in a cardiac emergency.

As part of their work, St John Ambulance Isle of Man also offers opportunities for the public to learn or refresh their CPR skills at a number of events where their cadets teach the public how to do CPR next to their first aid station. The charity is also partnering with Manx Care, the Isle of Man Ambulance Service and Resuscitation Council UK for ‘Restart A Heart’ on Saturday 18 October in the Strand Shopping Centre to give CPR demonstrations, teach the public how to administer CPR, and answer questions.

Claire Pickering, of St John Ambulance Isle of Man, comments: “We take the matter of defibrillator readiness very seriously and believe every defibrillator on the island should be rescue-ready, which is why we have brought forward the launch of our defibrillator ‘Rescue Ready’ maintenance packages. This initiative is to help support guardians of machines across the island so that we reduce the likelihood of situations where machines can’t be used in an emergency.”

Paul Healey, of Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation, adds: “Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation fully supports St John Ambulance Isle of Man’s ‘Rescue Ready’ scheme and hopes that the packages they offer will streamline the procedure of defibrillator maintenance going forward.”

For further information, contact St John Ambulance Isle of Man on 01624 674387 or email info@sja.org.im.

Date of release: 25 September 2025