Knowing where your nearest AED (automated external defibrillator) is could be the difference between life and death. An AED map UK resource can help you locate public defibrillators in seconds — and in a cardiac arrest, every second counts. This page brings together the best national and regional defibrillator maps and locators available in the UK, with The Circuit as our primary recommendation for most people.
Start Here: The Circuit and DefibFinder
The Circuit is the UK’s official national defibrillator network, run in partnership with the British Heart Foundation, NHS England, and all UK ambulance trusts. It is the most comprehensive and authoritative AED register in the UK — when you call 999 during a cardiac arrest, the ambulance service dispatcher uses The Circuit to tell the caller where the nearest defibrillator is. Registering your AED with The Circuit is the single most important thing you can do to make it findable in an emergency.
DefibFinder is The Circuit’s public-facing AED locator — a clean, easy-to-use map that lets anyone search for their nearest registered defibrillator by postcode or current location. It draws directly from The Circuit database, so it reflects the same data the ambulance services use. This is the tool we recommend sharing with your community, your workplace, and anyone who asks where to find a defibrillator.
If you manage or own a defibrillator, please register it at thecircuit.uk if you have not already done so. An unregistered AED is invisible to the 999 service.
Registering a Defibrillator
When an AED is placed for public use it should be registered with the ambulance service for that area via The Circuit. The AED cabinet will usually be given a location code that is associated with the registration. If the AED is needed, the person calling 999 will be told where to find it and, if the cabinet is locked, given the access code while professional help is dispatched. Publicly accessible defibrillators of this kind are known as Community Public Access Defibrillators (CPADs).
On most AED maps, CPADs available 24 hours a day are marked in green; those with time or access restrictions are marked in amber or red.
Other National AED Maps
In addition to DefibFinder and The Circuit, the following national resources are maintained and working:
- GoodSAM — an app that connects those in need with trained first responders and also shows nearby AEDs on a map. It claims one of the largest AED databases in the world. Everyone should have this on their phone. You can listen to Professor Mark Wilson, GoodSAM’s founder, on the Life After Cardiac Arrest podcast.
- National Defibrillator Database (NDDB) — an excellent community-maintained map run by the Community Heartbeat Trust, the charity behind the Adopt a Phone Box scheme, which repurposes defunct BT phone boxes to house AEDs.
- HeartSafe Locator — a national AED locator covering a wide range of registered locations.
- Open Source Map — a research project run by Dr Robert Whittaker using OpenStreetMap data. Useful as a secondary reference, especially in areas not well covered by other databases.
- Minutes Matter — focuses specifically on phone boxes that have been converted to house AEDs.
Regional AED Maps
East of England
Defibrillators For All — covering Peterborough and surrounding areas.
East Midlands
Do It For Defib — a community-run AED map covering the East Midlands region.
North West
Rochdale Borough Council — defibrillator locations across the Rochdale area.
Yorkshire
Start a Heart — Yorkshire-based AED community network and locator.
South East
Defibs Farnham Map — AED locations in the Farnham and Surrey area.
South West
Defib Map — covering Portishead, Bristol, and surrounding areas.
Scotland
Trossachs Defibrillator — AED locations across the Trossachs and Stirling area.
AED Use and Placement
If you are interested in community AED placement and use, the Life After Cardiac Arrest podcast episode with Professor Terry Brown includes practical information about how AEDs are sited and how placement decisions are made. For more on the role defibrillators play in cardiac arrest survival, see our pages on Defibrillators and the Chain of Survival.
See also: Defibrillators, The Chain of Survival, CPR Training, and What Is Cardiac Arrest?