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Sweden: a register, a research base and SMS lifesavers
A national defibrillator register run by the resuscitation council, a quality register that has published cardiac-arrest outcomes for decades, and a volunteer scheme that grew out of the research.
CPR in sixty seconds
- Unresponsive and not breathing normally? Gasping is not breathing. Treat it as a cardiac arrest.
- Call 112 (113 in Norway). Speaker on, phone on the floor. Stay on the line — the dispatcher will coach you.
- Push hard and fast in the centre of the chest: 5–6 cm in an adult, 100–120 per minute, letting the chest come all the way back up.
- Send somebody else for a defibrillator. Do not go yourself unless it is seconds away. Keep compressing.
- Turn the device on and do what it says. It decides whether to shock. After a shock, go straight back to compressions.
This is a reference written for bystanders, not a diagnosis, a training course or medical advice. It cannot tell you what is wrong with a particular person, and it does not replace the dispatcher on the other end of an emergency call — they can see what is near you and they will talk you through it. If you are worried about your own heart, or about a symptom, that is a conversation with a clinician rather than a page on a website.
112, SOS Alarm and the coached call
Emergency calls in Sweden are answered by SOS Alarm, which handles 112 nationally and dispatches ambulance, fire and police in cooperation with the regions that run the healthcare. Sweden was among the earliest systems to systematise dispatcher-assisted CPR and to study it, and the operator identifying a cardiac arrest by telephone and coaching compressions is now standard practice. Stay on the line: the coaching is the service.
Hjärtstartarregistret
The national defibrillator register, Hjärtstartarregistret, is run by the Swedish Resuscitation Council, Svenska HLR-rådet. Owners register their devices with the location, availability and access details, and the register makes them findable and usable by the emergency system and by volunteer responders. As everywhere in the region, registration is free and the value of the register is entirely a function of how many owners keep their entry honest — particularly the opening-hours field.
SMSlivräddare, and the research behind it
Sweden pioneered mobile-phone dispatch of lay rescuers: volunteers who have agreed to be alerted receive a message when a suspected cardiac arrest is reported near them and are sent either straight to the patient or via a registered defibrillator. The scheme, SMSlivräddare, grew directly out of Swedish research into whether this changes bystander CPR rates, and it operates through the regional emergency services together with SOS Alarm. Anyone willing can apply; alerts can always be declined.
The data that makes Sweden unusual
Sweden has one of the longest-running national cardiac-arrest quality registers in the world, publishing annual reports on out-of-hospital and in-hospital arrests — bystander CPR rates, response intervals, rhythms, survival — over decades. That is why so much of what is known about what actually improves survival in a real population comes from Swedish data, and it is also why Swedish figures should be read carefully when comparing countries: a system that counts everything looks different from one that counts selectively.
If you are the one standing there
Call 112, speaker on, phone on the floor, compressions immediately. Say where you are first. Ask about a defibrillator and about whether responders have been alerted — in much of Sweden, somebody with a device may already be on the way to you. Keep compressing until they arrive; a volunteer who finds CPR already in progress is a far better outcome than one who has to start from nothing.
| Item | How it works |
|---|---|
| Emergency number | 112 |
| Call handling | SOS Alarm |
| Healthcare and ambulances | The regions |
| National AED register | Hjärtstartarregistret |
| Register operator | Svenska HLR-rådet (Swedish Resuscitation Council) |
| Volunteer responder scheme | SMSlivräddare |
| Quality register | National cardiac-arrest register with published annual reports |
| Registration cost | Free |
Sources: Hjärtstartarregistret (Swedish defibrillator register) · Svenska HLR-rådet (Swedish Resuscitation Council) · SMSlivräddare · SOS Alarm · checked 2026-09-08
Frequently asked questions
How do I register a defibrillator in Sweden?
Through Hjärtstartarregistret, the national register operated by Svenska HLR-rådet. It is free, and the entry should include the exact location, the access arrangements and honest opening hours.
What is SMSlivräddare?
A volunteer responder scheme that alerts registered lay rescuers by phone to suspected cardiac arrests near them, sending some straight to the patient and others via a registered defibrillator. Alerts can always be declined.
Who answers 112 in Sweden?
SOS Alarm handles 112 nationally and dispatches ambulance, fire and police, working with the regions that run healthcare. Dispatchers coach chest compressions over the phone.
Country by country
Estonia: 112, kiirabi and no national AED register
One number for everything, a dispatch centre that coaches CPR down the phone, and defibrillators scattered by municipalities, employers and shops with no single public list. What that means if you are the one calling.
Finland: defi.fi and the 112 Suomi app
The best-organised defibrillator register in the Baltic Sea region: a national database run by the heart association with the resuscitation council and the Red Cross, feeding device locations to the emergency services app.
Latvia: NMPD, 112 and a patchwork of devices
The state emergency medical service answers the medical side of 112 and publishes guidance for defibrillator owners, but there is no single public register. Where devices have actually appeared, and what to do with yours.
Lithuania: a legal requirement and a service database
The one country in the region where the law names the venues that must have a defibrillator. How the 112 centre and the emergency medical service work together, and how the device database reaches the dispatcher.
Norway: 113, NAKOS and the register that is free
The medical emergency number is 113, not 112. The national defibrillator register is run by a state competence centre and costs nothing — which matters, because commercial look-alikes have been invoicing device owners.
Everything on this subject
Before the emergency, there is a long quiet stretch
Blood pressure, resting heart rate, movement and sleep are the part of this you can act on for years beforehand. TempoLife keeps them in one place, free to start.