The UK’s first bus shelter defibrillator cabinet, powered by solar panels, has been designed by Turtle Medical and installed in Creswell, a small village northwest of Stafford.
The local community now has access to a lifesaving Automated External Defibrillator (AED) thanks to a unique idea and a collaborative approach by Creswell Parish Council, AED Donate, Turtle Medical and Shelutions Urban Furniture.
Creswell Parish Council partnered with non-profit AED Donate to lead the project to place a defibrillator in the village, but with no public building or easy access to an electricity supply, heating an outdoor public cabinet was proving to be difficult. Turtle’s uniquely designed wind and solar powered defib cabinet was considered, although there was no perfect, central location in the village with sufficient space.
At the same time, a new bus shelter for the village was being sourced and councillors questioned whether the two projects could be combined. Turtle immediately seized the engineering challenge and commenced a feasibility study for AED Donate before developing a design whereby solar panels could be installed on the bus shelter’s roof.
By working closely with Turtle, the Council’s selected bus shelter manufacturer, Shelutions Urban Furniture, was able to adapt its design and align with the defib cabinet technology’s specifications, including the insertion of internal electrical cabling.
Margaret Harford, Creswell Parish Council’s Chairperson with the first ever solar powered defibrillator cabinet integrated on a bus shelter
“The situation in this Staffordshire village, where there is no power source for an AED cabinet, is quite common so we welcomed Turtle Medical’s solar and wind powered solution when it was launched. The stand-alone unit wasn’t quite right for the location in Creswell and utilising the bus shelter provided an innovative resolution to the problem. I’m very proud that we turned a challenge into a brand-new defib cabinet option that could be effective in numerous communities.
“Every year, over 30,000 people in the UK suffer from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) outside of a hospital environment so we’ll continue our fundraising efforts to ensure that defibrillators are readily available in every community, no matter how they are kept at the correct temperature.”
First bus shelter in the UK – Creswell, Staffordshire – to be installed with a solar powered defibrillator cabinet
Three large capacity solar panels power the Creswell bus shelter defibrillator cabinet, ensuring the AED is kept at the right temperature and rescue ready
Mike Dowson, Founder and Managing Director at Turtle Medical, commented: “We’re no stranger to a challenge at Turtle, so I jumped at the chance to engineer a bespoke solution for AED Donate and Creswell Parish Council. I’m thankful to Shelutions’ for embracing a collaborative process, which has resulted in us having a fully integrated bus shelter defibrillator cabinet powered by three solar panels. These are larger capacity panels when compared to our regular model, which will generate enough electricity to keep the medical equipment heated without the wind turbine element, even on dark winter days. I couldn’t be happier with the result and this new type of installation could be adopted in more places, to safeguard more people from cardiac arrest.”
Margaret Harford, Chairperson at Creswell Parish Council, added: “We have wanted the residents of Creswell to gain peace of mind from a local defibrillator for some time, but we couldn’t solve the problem of where to put an accessible cabinet and how to keep it heated. AED Donate has been extremely supportive and facilitated this exciting solution with Turtle and Shelutions. Creswell is certainly proud to be the home of the UK’s first bus stop defibrillator.”
Mick Nelson, Managing Director at Shelutions Urban Furniture, said: “While we routinely make bespoke passenger waiting facilities, it was a surprise to get the enquiry about installing a defib cabinet and solar panels on a bus shelter. We were delighted to collaborate to get design just right for Creswell Parish Council. This shelter replaced one we originally manufactured and installed about 20 years ago, which makes it even more special. It is an inspirational idea and we hope to work with AED Donate and Turtle again on future custom-made commissions.”