A defibrillator at a Belfast council playing field which could not be used when a member of the public fell ill has now been registered with the Ambulance Service.
During an emergency at Strangford Avenue Playing Fields in south Belfast on Saturday October 26, an operator was unable to provide the code needed to access the automated external defibrillator (AED) because it had not been registered.
First aiders must call the emergency 999 number to be given the code for locked `Public Access Defibrillator' cabinets provided at parks and playing fields across Northern Ireland.
The device, invented in the mid-1960s by professor Frank Pantridge in Belfast, diagnoses the life-threatening cardiac problems and treats them with a pulse of electricity.
An Ambulance Service (NIAS) spokesman told The Irish News earlier this week that the control room had to direct those involved to another unit which was further away.
"NIAS control were unable to provide a code to the AED cabinet at the incident in Strangford Playing Fields as it was not registered with NIAS.
"However a bystander was directed to an AED located at the House of Sport, which was the closest location of where a registered AED was located.
"Defibrillation is only one link in the chain of survival, the priority is providing CPR until a defibrillator is available."
After the emergency it was removed from the box pending its registration.
A council spokeswoman confirmed it is now back in place and in working order.
"The defibrillator has been reinstalled and has been registered with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service," she said.
