Rugby firm launches UK's first wind and solar powered defibrillator cabinet
Rugby-based family firm Turtle Defib Cabinets has launched a UK first - a ground-breaking wind and solar powered defibrillator and bleed control cabinet.
Such units are usually wired to an electrical source but in remote areas, solar is used as an alternative. But that can be fraught with issues such as positioning and the limited winter sunlight.
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Turtle's design solves a problem, namely that the angle of the solar panel must be optimal to ensure a continuous supply of electricity, and provides a wind back-up.
Pre-launch partners, which assisted the company with additional research, have already adopted the product, including Kington Golf Club in Hereford - the highest 18-hole golf course in England - and Northamptonshire Sport, which has installed a unit at Northampton bike park.
Defib cabinets must maintain a temperature above 0 degrees and above 10 degrees is recommended.
"We not only identified that there was a gap in the market for a wind powered defib cabinet, but also that the solar products that were available are not designed in the most optimal way to harness solar energy," said Mike Dowson, founder and managing director of Turtle Defib Cabinets.
"Our research and development with support from Medilink UK and The University of Warwick over the last two years has facilitated Turtle to design, engineer and manufacture a failsafe defib cabinet that will help to save lives in places where people were previously vulnerable."
Dowson said the firm's design angles the solar panel in a way that maximises power but also included a wind turbine to ensure the cabinet works when the UK weather is "at its worst".
"We also offer a remote monitoring option provides a daily cabinet status, such as updates on environmental conditions, charge status, when the cabinet has been accessed or if there are any faults," he added.
In 2020, Turtle created the UK's first bleed control cabinet and although these control kits do not need to be kept at a specific temperature, after working with the Daniel Baird Foundation, West Midlands Ambulance and The National Trauma Network, the majority of defib cabinet customers choose to put a bleed control kit in the unit too, it said.
For every minute that passes without defibrillation, the chance of a person's survival decreases by seven to 10%, with survival being unlikely after ten minutes.
The company says it is therefore critical that defibrillators are available in areas where ambulance response could exceed five minutes.
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