Motor Vehicles: Medical Equipment
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department (a) has considered and (b) plans to consider expanding requirements for lifesaving equipment in vehicles used for public or quasi-public purposes.
Answered by Simon Lightwood
The Department is not considering mandating public vehicles to carry defibrillators. In England outside London, commercial bus operators provide the majority of bus services and have responsibility for managing their fleets. Any decision on whether to fit buses with defibrillators is one for operators to make, and some have taken the decision to equip their depots with these.
Similarly, it would be the decision for individual taxi and private hire vehicle operators to decide to carry defibrillators.
The Department also encourages train operating companies to equip their stations with defibrillators where possible, and both Network Rail and train operators have made progress towards this in recent years.
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