Coventry Business Improvement District (BID) adopts DefibTrack designed by local innovator Turtle Medical
In December 2025, Coventry Business Improvement District (BID) launched a campaign to find a missing defibrillator. Mike Dowson, founder of company Turtle Medical based in nearby Rugby, saw the news story and offered to loan an AED that would be the first to be installed with the company’s brand new DefibTrack technology.
Coventry BID has adopted the intelligent GPS system. If the equipment moves, an alert is sent to the custodian, and live tracking of the defib can be viewed on the map within the online portal.
The Coventry BID defibrillator that went missing was housed in a cabinet based at Fargo Village. It was deployed during an emergency call in the early hours of Friday, November 7, was not returned to its cabinet and despite extensive enquiries, the device wasn’t located.
Alongside Turtle Medical, several other local companies offered assistance and Warwickshire Freemasons Charity and Mike Smith Training Ltd donated a new defibrillator to the community.
However, after hearing about DefibTrack, Coventry BID was keen to understand more about its 24/7 location monitoring capabilities. The first-of-a-kind defib tracking system with online portal was designed to help combat the challenge of temporarily – or permanently – missing defibrillators.
While it’s most common for equipment to be taken from an incident by emergency services, privacy laws can mean slow retrieval, or with the case in Coventry, it can become an expensive mystery never to be solved. Defibrillators typically cost between £1,000 and £2,000, so Coventry BID selected to install the tracking technology to the six publicly accessible defibrillators within its network.
Joanne Glover, Chief Executive of Coventry BID, said: “Ensuring that publicly accessible defibrillators are available across Coventry is vital. It’s wonderful that this tracking technology has been designed exactly for the challenge we faced, and I’m proud that we’re leading the way as one of the first to use DefibTrack. The next time one of the Coventry BID defibs is deployed, we will be able to see where it is, retrieve it fast and put it back in the community, rescue ready.”
Mike Dowson, Turtle Medical’s founder and Managing Director, said: “As Turtle Medical was preparing to announce DefibTrack, I saw the plea about the missing defib from Fargo. As the story was an example of why we designed and developed the tracking system, we reached out to Coventry BID with the offer of getting a rescue ready defib back in the village, that would also be tracked.
“We’d like to thank the Coventry BID team for their immediate support in recognising the benefits of the brand-new DefibTrack technology. A missing AED is stressful, it leaves people vulnerable and buying a replacement is a financial burden no one needs.
“However, the real concern is getting the defib back in its location and rescue ready as soon as possible, so DefibTrack delivers peace of mind in better safeguarding people as well as property.”
- DefibTrack is compatible with all makes and models of defibrillators and can be fitted to any existing AED
- It confirms the defib is present and checks in automatically every 12 hours
- Live GPS tracking if the defibrillator is removed or deployed
- Route replay to help locate and recover the AED after use
- Long-life, replaceable batteries with no impact on the defib itself Works across all European mobile networks with no setup or SIM management
The manufacturer of defibrillator and bleed control cabinets, bleed control kits and supplier of medical equipment also designed the only solar and wind powered defibrillator cabinet for locations without an electricity connection.
Navigate to the menu above to explore Turtle’s defib cabinets, bleed control cabinets and the equipment to place inside.
