Rhondda Cynon Taf Council will install lifesaving defibrillators at every school site across the County Borough.
Where appropriate, the defibrillators will also be made available to the wider community 24 hours a day, seven days a week, helping to improve public access to emergency equipment.
The approach is about making sure every community has access to potentially lifesaving equipment. While there are already around 570 defibrillators across Rhondda Cynon Taf, there are still areas where access is limited, particularly outside normal opening hours. With 113 school sites located in communities across the County Borough, schools are well placed to help strengthen that local network.
Installing defibrillators is only part of the picture. The Council will work with partners including the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust, as well as charity and community organisations, to support the installation, registration, maintenance and monitoring of the devices. The ambition is to make sure the equipment is not only in place, but also properly maintained, easy to locate and ready to use when needed.
Alongside this, the Council also wants to strengthen awareness and training, encouraging wider understanding of CPR and how defibrillators can be used safely and effectively in an emergency.
Councillor Rhys Lewis, Cabinet Member for Education and the Welsh Language, said:
I’m really pleased these proposals have been agreed, because they have the potential to genuinely save lives across Rhondda Cynon Taf.
Schools are at the heart of our communities, and by expanding access to defibrillators across school sites we can help improve local coverage and give people extra reassurance that this vital equipment is closer at hand if it is ever needed.
This is about taking a practical, thoughtful and partnership-based approach. We want to make sure every school site is equipped appropriately, and that public access is provided wherever possible, supported by the right maintenance, training and community awareness.
It’s a really positive step forward and one that I know will be welcomed by schools, families and residents across Rhondda Cynon Taf.
The plans include providing an automated external defibrillator in every educational setting, identifying alternative central community locations where school-based public access is not possible, supporting maintenance arrangements, promoting registration on the national database, and encouraging defibrillator provision to be considered in future school developments and wider community infrastructure.
The work will now move forward in phases, with partnership working continuing to play an important role in delivering the rollout.
Posted on 23/03/2026