Location, Location, Location - the importance of effective AED placement.

What use is an AED if no one knows where to find it?  

Every second counts during a Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Quite literally, speed – or lack of it – kills!

However, effective placing, signage, and communication around the placement of your AED will and ready your workplace for any emergency.

Here are our top tips for effective AED placement:  

1. Meet in the Middle.

It is important to place your AED in a location that is accessible by everyone. Extensive studies undertaken by US Company Physio-Control have found that for best chances of surviving sudden cardiac arrest, an AED should be within 180 seconds reach of every person.

We recommend placing your AED in a central location with multiple access points – main corridors, lobbies, and foyers are always a good idea.

A dusty storage cupboard out the back where it takes two minutes to find the light switch, or just inside the main hallway used by in the organization. It’s your call.

2. Be Loud.

There’s no telling when Sudden Cardiac Arrest will strike, and thus, there’s no telling who will be the first responder at the scene. Use of customized AED cabinetry and signage is an easy, effective way to ensure that everyone in your organization knows exactly where to find an AED.

Cabinets perform a double duty – they keep your AED Safe by reducing risk of water and dust damage, while also alerting people to the location of your AED with Customized stickering. For added effectiveness, choose an alarmed cabinet – that way, there’s no hiding the fact your AED is in use!

Signage also helps ensure that everyone one in your organization knows exactly where your AED can be found. Be loud – stick up bold signage in your hallway, your staffroom, and your tearoom. Use arrows and bright colors to draw peoples attention.

Be Loud. By using effective AED cabinetry and bold signage, you are leaving nothing to chance during an emergency.

3. Sharing is Caring.

You may know the location of the AED in your workplace or community center, but how about when you’re at the park? Shopping mall? Supermarket? Tragically, people have died as close as 50 metres from an AED, simply because no one knew it was there!

This too, can be fixed. The fantastic AED Locations website and app tell you exactly how close you are to an AED, giving you the ability to instantly search for the nearest AED when you are out and about.

Make sure you add the location of your own AED location to the app, as well. Because sharing is caring – the more people that can access an AED, the more lives we can save. 

Here at Living Hearts, we are passionate about saving lives. Sudden Cardiac Arrest is a preventable, treatable condition – yet it claims the lives of over 1700 New Zealanders per year.

Do your part to help New Zealanders – buy an AED.