FOI 25-548 Cardiac Arrests at National Parks
Freedom of Information Request
- Reference
- FOI 25-548 Cardiac Arrests at National Parks
- Request Date
- 26 Nov 2025
- Response Date
- 22 Dec 2025
- Information Requested
I am writing to request access to specific data regarding cardiac emergencies within all Scottish National Parks, including: Cairngorms National Park Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park I am currently undertaking a fundraising initiative to install public-access defibrillators (AEDs) at key mountain, upland, and remote outdoor locations. To secure grant funding and demonstrate the significant need for additional life-saving equipment across Scotland’s national parks, I am seeking the following information:
The number of cardiac arrests and heart-attack related incidents attended by the Scottish Ambulance Service within each national park listed above.
The number of incidents in which defibrillator shocks were delivered, whether by public-access AEDs, community responders, bystanders, or ambulance personnel.
Any available information regarding patient outcomes, including return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), survival to hospital admission, and survival to discharge (within information-governance limits).
If available, any additional contextual or operational information, such as response times in remote terrain, typical challenges encountered during mountain callouts, or trends noted across the national parks.
This information will be used solely to support a charitable project aimed at improving public safety for walkers, climbers, and communities in Scotland’s most visited and remote outdoor areas. Understanding the scale and nature of cardiac emergencies in these environments will greatly strengthen the case for funding and strategic placement of additional AEDs.
- Response
Important information to note when interpreting the data - The Scottish Ambulance Service is currently implementing a new clinical system. This phased system has been in place since June 24 and involves only a portion of Scotland. There is the possibility that an incident from the Terrapace 3 system could be counted in the Terrapace 2 system and therefore the figures in the table should NOT be added together.
Please see the attached sheet where the following information is detailed: -
Tab 1 - Details from the Terrapace 2 system of the total number of incidents attended by the Scottish Ambulance Service with the closure code of Cardiac Arrest and Heart problems broken down by the incident year and postcode area. The second table on this tab also details the number of these incidents where a public defib has been used.
Tab 2 – Details from the Terrapace 3 system of the total number of incidents attended by the Scottish Ambulance Service with the closure code of Cardiac Arrest and Heart problems broken down by the incident year and postcode area. The second table on this tab also details the number of these incidents where a public defib has been used.
Tab 3 – Details the total number of times where the return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) has been indicated taken from the Terrapace 2 system.
Tab 4 – Details the total number of times where the return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) has been indicated taken from the Terrapace 3 system.
For the given data, you will see that some of the figures are shown as, five or less than five, please note that this figure has been suppressed because the statistical value is less than five. The Scottish Ambulance service has a duty, under the Data Protection Act to avoid directly or indirectly revealing any personal details. It is therefore widely understood that provision of statistics on small numbers, five or less are statistically suppressed upon disclosure.
Under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), public authorities are required to provide access to recorded information that they hold at the time of the request. However, FOISA does not oblige authorities to create new information in order to respond to a request. This means that if the requested information does not exist in a recorded form, the authority is not required to generate, compile, or otherwise create it. The Scottish Ambulance Service does not hold any other datasets that allow us to report on patient outcomes, response times specifically to remote terrain or trends or challenges when attending incidents in National Parks. It is for this reason we have applied section 17 of the Freedom of Information Scotland Act 2002, as information not held.
- Response Documents
