Kingston is one of three London boroughs where defibrillators will be provided to officers.

That is thanks to an initiative between the Metropolitan Police Service and the London Ambulance Service.

From today (August 21), the three boroughs will join 13 others across the capital, with Kingston receiving 15 defibrillators.

The other boroughs are Haringey and Brent, who will receive 26 and 20 defibrillators respectively.

The initiative started in November 2015, when officers on four boroughs – Enfield, Croydon, Havering and Ealing – were provided with defibrillators to enable them to respond to life-threatening emergency situations with ambulance crews.

In London, the average cardiac survival rate is nine percent, and at Heathrow this becomes 75 percent thanks to the availability of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and availability of staff and emergency services personnel to use them effectively.

Chris Hartley-Sharpe, head of first responders at London Ambulance Service, said: “Every second counts when someone is in cardiac arrest. The only way to restart a heart is with a defibrillator, so the sooner one arrives with someone trained to use it, the better the outcome for the patient.

"While we will always send an ambulance response as a priority, by working together with the Met we can ensure patients in cardiac arrest receive vital treatment as quickly as possible."

Sue Warner, strategic health and safety advisor for the Met, said: “We are delighted to be working with the London Ambulance Service to save lives across London.

"Equipping our response team vehicles and station offices with this essential life saving equipment will enable our officers to respond as effectively to these critical life or death emergency calls."