Lives are being put on the line by vandals targeting and stealing defibrillators.
The warning has come from bosses at the Welsh Ambulance Trust who revealed as many as eight defibrillators had been taken or damaged over the space of 12 months.
Cardiac arrest survivor Alan Mathias was surprised thieves were raiding the equipment and said it was “just incredible.”
Stark figures show fewer than 5% are able to survive a cardiac arrest outside of hospital.
But a defibrillator is a real life-saver and a total of 70% can survive if one is used to give someone’s heart an electric shock, according to figures from St John Ambulance Cymru.
Delays were caused in an emergency as the key kit was locked away in cabinets to protect it from theft and damage.
But the knock-on effect to survival rates is a fall by 10% for every minute no action is taken.
Tomos Hughes, Public Access Defibrillators (PADS) support officer for Welsh Ambulance Trust, said: “It make me feel very, very angry and very sad.
“Vandalism is basically putting lives at risk. I don’t think they understand the consequences.
“If something was to happen to a member of their family, how would they feel when if they call 999 and were sent to retrieve a defibrillator and there wasn’t one available because it had been vandalised in their community?”
He revealed some people had been denied use of the defibrillators during a cardiac arrest last year because they were “offline due to vandalism or had been stolen.”
Alan Mathias, 69, of Mold in Flintshire, said he would not be here today without the life-saving piece of kit.
“I had no warning, nothing at all. The last thing I remember is seeing the floor coming towards my face,” he said.
A medic who had been playing on a neighbouring court started CPR as staff at the centre rushed to get hold of the defibrillator.
“I probably wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the defib,” he said.
“To think that people may steal them or vandalise them is just incredible.”
He said he was aware of a defibrillator being vandalised in Mold.
“They caught the culprit and he realised his mistake when someone who had been saved by a defib told him their story,” he added.
Sharon Owen, who has rolled out 13,000 public access defibrillators throughout Wales through the Cardiff -based charity Calon Hearts nine years, said: “Because in the society we live in sadly, defibrillators are getting stolen or vandalised. If people only realised how important defibrillators are, it could be needed by their grandma, grandpa, mum or dad.
“It’s sad to see that and I’ve seen a lot of instances where that’s been happening.”
She said there had been a spate of thefts including a defibrillator from outside a church in Vale of Glamorgan and one had been stolen from Bridgend train station.
“People have been fundraising for these machines, they’re not cheap,” she added.
She said people had taken the step of adding codes to defibrillators over fears they would be either stolen or vandalised.
“If the internet isn’t good or they can’t ring 999 to get the code, that person is going to die,” she added.
Kimberley Low, a training manager at St John Ambulance Cymru, said it was better not to keep defibrillators in locked cases.
“This can cause a delay in an emergency situation where every second counts. Survival rates fall by 10% for every minute that goes by without action being taken,” she said.
“Given their importance in saving lives [it] is disappointing, but thankfully they’re relatively rare.
“Increasing public knowledge about the devices would lead to greater appreciation for their importance at the heart of local communities and ultimately a reduction in the instances of theft.”
Adam Fletcher, head of British Heart Foundation Cymru, said it was vital all defibrillators in Wales are registered with the national defibrillator network - The Circuit.
It means they can be located when someone calls 999 to report a cardiac arrest.
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A total of 6,000 defibrillators have been registered to date but tens of thousands of defibrillators are still unregistered across Britain.
He also urged people who protected defibrillators to update the register if devices were either stolen or damaged.
