Technologies company SafeTIC - in partnership with Philips Laerdal and Mondial Assistance and with training provided by British Red Cross Training - has announced the UK launch of DOC, the first Connected Operational Defibrillator.

With more than 124,000 people in the UK suffering from a heart attack every year, DOC has been designed to reduce the mortality rate of such attacks by linking readily accessible, easy-to-use defibrillators with leading-edge technology. When deployed, the DOC system automatically triggers an alert and contacts the helpdesk at Mondial Assistance, specialists in remote medical services.

Instructions are provided by the helpdesk to assist the first aider in applying emergency defibrillation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). At the same time, a GPS signal notifies the helpdesk operator of the exact position of the patient and a call is made to the emergency services.

The defibrillator has been developed by Philips and - although acknowledged to be the easiest for laypersons to use even without prior training - companies which sign up to the DOC service package receive four hours of training from British Red Cross Training on basic CPR techniques and how to use it. The system is supplied through a monthly subscription agreement, with SafeTIC being responsible for monitoring and maintaining the equipment.