Request ID: FOI-0591-2122 Date published: 02 July 2021
You asked
Good evening
I have received several reports that the public access defibrillators at Waterloo station have been removed. I attach a screenshot from an email I received earlier today from a colleague who was commuting into London.
These devices were installed as part of Government drives to save lives following cardiac arrest, funded initially through central monies in the Saving Lives:Our Healthier Nation White Paper led by the late Rt Hon Tessa Jowell MP when she was Minister for Public Health. I was closely involved in establishing the initiative.
Events in Denmark last weekend surely demonstrate how important it is to have rapid access to defibrillators in event of sudden cardiac arrest.
Please could you provide details of the decision making process to remove these devices?
I am particularly interested in the process by which the decision to remove these lifesaving devices was made, at what level of the organisation, based on what risk assessment, and -given the current international focus on cardiac arrest following events at EURO2020 - whether the TfL Board received assurances that this was a safe thing to do.
We answered
TfL Ref: 0591-2122 Thank you for your further email with attachments received by us on 25 June 2021 and for your request about the removal of the defibrillator at Waterloo station. Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold the information you require.
Sadly during the pandemic, TfL had had a number of Automated External Defibrillators (AED’s) stolen from their cabinets on stations and despite CCTV coverage and staff vigilance this has led to us needing to re-site them temporarily until new security measures could be instigated and to prevent further thefts and associated costs to TfL.
In March 2020, after these thefts, a decision was made via telephone conversations, in collaboration with the British Transport Police (BTP) who investigated the thefts, and the London Ambulance Service (LAS), to remove the AEDs from the cabinets and move them to the station control rooms. A note was placed in the cabinet to advise of this and to use a call point to contact the control room. The decision was made by the Network Contingency Planning Manager in consultation with the Head of Resilience and Strategy in London Underground. This measure was applied to all stations with AED’s on the network. At no time was any site without an AED during the pandemic and where machines were stolen, they have been replaced.
For access reasons, a keypad system requiring a code to access the AED was not considered suitable due to potential difficulties in having to make a mobile call to request a code whilst underground.
We have reviewed this decision frequently throughout the pandemic and have this week instigated plans for the defibrillators to be returned to their original cabinets - this has now been done.
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely
Sara Thomas FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
