75th defibrillator donation by Hearts for Herts Charity keeps Hertfordshire fire stations rescue ready!
2025-08-08
Hertfordshire, UK - On 30th July, community leaders celebrated the donation of 14 life-saving public access Mindray BeneHeart C1A AEDs to local fire stations from Hearts for Herts Charity and Hertfordshire County Council. This donation means all Hertfordshire fire stations will now have AEDs for community use in cardiac emergencies. It also marks the 75th installation by Hearts for Herts Charity.
This installation was made possible thanks to the tireless fundraising of the volunteer-run Hearts for Herts Charity, match-funding from Hertfordshire County Council Public Health, and support from the Department for Health and Social Care’s Community AED fund.
The donation was celebrated on 30th July at Hatfield Fire Station by His Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, Robert Voss CBE CStJ, representatives from Hearts for Herts Charity, Hertfordshire County Council, Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, Mindray UK, Hertfordshire Fire & Rescue Service, East of England Ambulance Service, and Sudden Arrhythmic Deaths UK charity.
The Hearts for Herts Charity founder and paramedic, Justin Honey-Jones, chose the Mindray BeneHeart C1A defibrillator for its reliability, five-year shelf-life, real-time feedback on compressions, and easy-to-use design. Hearts for Herts Charity register each defibrillator on the National Circuit and will maintain the AEDs and bleed kits as part of their volunteer guardian network to keep them ready for emergencies. The charity has fundraised enough to place 130 public access defibrillators and 350 bleed control kits across Hertfordshire by February 2026.
Justin Honey-Jones
Founder of Hearts for Herts Charity
We are very grateful to our supporters and partners for making this donation possible. Our community's effort helped us achieve our 75th installation and donate 14 AEDs at once! Mindray AEDs are reliable and easy to use in emergencies, with a five-year shelf-life that reduces long-term costs. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this cause – it really has been a community effort.
Councillor Ajanta Hilton, Executive Member for Public Health & Community Safety at Hertfordshire County Council said: "We are proud to have contributed funding to such an important project and to make this life-saving equipment publicly accessible at Fire Stations across Hertfordshire. This collaboration reflects a shared commitment to public safety and community resilience, placing essential emergency resources in strategic locations across the county.
Alex Woodman, Chief Fire Officer at Hertfordshire Fire & Rescue said: "We are deeply grateful to Hearts for Herts Charity for their generous donation. Fire stations are well-known landmarks, so they’re an ideal location for publicly available AEDs. Firefighters are still statistically more likely to experience cardiac arrest than other emergency service workers so this provides an additional safety measure for our teams. Thanks to this donation both our rescue teams and the public can help even faster during cardiac emergencies."
Kaushika Khoosal
Regional Sales Manager, Mindray UK
Mindray is proud to support Hearts for Herts Charity in their mission to improve public health. Justin has done incredible work for Hertfordshire and it is wonderful to see the community has thrown themselves behind such a great cause. As an experienced paramedic we are honoured that Justin has chosen Mindray's BeneHeart C1A AED as the device of choice for Hearts for Herts Charity. AEDs play a crucial role in saving lives, and Mindray is committed to providing reliable, effective solutions.
To find out more about Hearts for Herts Charity, including its mission, fundraising events, and how to donate, visit: www.heartsforherts.co.uk
