8 Best Practices for AED Placement Guidelines for Businesses

A sudden cardiac arrest is an electrical failure of the heart, and an automated external defibrillator (AED) is the device that can correct it. The device only helps if someone can get it to a collapsed person within minutes. Public access defibrillation programs succeed or fail on placement: where the unit hangs, whether people know it exists, and whether it is ready to work. Buying one and mounting it near the front door rarely meets that standard. The eight practices below cover how to choose locations, make the AED easy to find, stay within legal requirements, and keep the device and your people ready, without overbuying units.

1. Plan for a Three-Minute Retrieval and Return

Current American Heart Association and American Red Cross guidance stresses that early CPR and early defibrillation drive outcomes, and a commonly used program target is to reach a patient within about three to five minutes of collapse. Confirm the exact wording in the latest AHA guidelines before you cite it in your own policy. The practical lesson is that placement should be set by travel time, not by a count of units. A building with one AED may be fine or badly underserved, depending on how long the round trip takes.

Consider an illustration. In a two-story office, someone with a stopwatch walks from the far corner of the upper floor to the ground-floor lobby AED and back. The trip takes over four minutes once the stairwell door and a slow elevator are included. The fix is a second unit upstairs, not a faster walker.

To run the test yourself:

List the farthest work areas from each proposed AED location, including warehouses, back offices, and upper floors.

Walk from each of those points to the proposed spot and back at a brisk pace, not a run.

Include every stairwell, elevator, door, and badge reader on the route.

Add or relocate units wherever the round trip exceeds your target of about three minutes.

The most common mistake is measuring distance on a floor plan. A hundred feet on paper can become two minutes if it crosses a locked door or an elevator wait. Always time the real route.

Measure the timed round trip from the farthest point, and record it again during drills. If times drift upward after a renovation or furniture change, move the unit.

2. Map Your Building by Floor, Wing, and Shift

Travel time tells you whether one location works. A zone map tells you how many locations you need. Divide the facility into zones by floor, wing, or outbuilding, then record how many people work in each zone on each shift, where risk is higher, and where traffic is heaviest. Cardiac arrest can strike anyone, but more people and more physical strain in an area raise the odds that an event happens there.

Take a manufacturing site as an illustration. Day shift has a reception desk and an office team, but nights run with only production staff. A single AED at the front desk is effectively unavailable after hours. Placing one unit near the production floor and another near the break room and offices covers both shifts.

To build the map:

Mark headcount for each zone and each shift on a floor plan.

Flag high-risk areas (heavy labor, heat, machinery) and high-traffic areas (cafeterias, lobbies, meeting rooms).

Draw the three-minute radius around each candidate location.

Adjust until every zone and every shift sits inside a radius, then count the units.

The classic mistake is a single AED at the front desk that is unstaffed, locked behind the lobby after hours, or simply far from most workers. Also remember visitors and customers, who are covered by the same map.

Track the percentage of work areas and shifts that have an AED inside the target retrieval time. The goal is 100 percent, and the map shows how many units that takes, which also keeps you from buying more than you need.

3. Mount the AED in a Visible, Unlocked, High-Traffic Spot

People find what they pass every day. An AED on a main corridor wall is seen hundreds of times before it is needed, and that familiarity is what lets a bystander head straight to it under stress. Access matters just as much: a device behind a key, code, or a manager's permission adds minutes that a collapsed person does not have.

As an illustration, imagine moving an AED from a manager's office to a wall cabinet in the main hallway near the cafeteria. Any employee can now reach it, and the office door no longer decides whether the device is available.

For installation, choose a corridor, lobby, or break room wall with a clear approach. Use a bracket or cabinet at a compliant reach height. Confirm current ADA guidance on reach range and protruding objects before drilling, since mounting rules can change. Many cabinets include an audible alarm when opened, so test it and tell staff what it sounds like. The alarm is a notice that someone is getting the device, not a sign of a break-in.

The common mistake is locking the AED in a room or drawer for security. Theft worries are understandable, but an alarmed, unlocked cabinet in a monitored area handles them without blocking access.

Run spot checks. Ask a new employee to find and open the AED unassisted. If it takes more than about a minute, the location or the signage needs work.

4. Use Clear Signage That Can Be Seen From a Distance

Placement is only half of findability. Most people who need to retrieve an AED have never seen the one in their building, and a bystander sent to fetch it should not have to search. Signs bridge that gap, and they work best in layers: one at the device and others that lead to it.

Imagine a gym that adds directional AED signs at the entrance, in the locker room corridor, and on the pool deck door. A visiting swimmer who has never noticed the unit can follow arrows to it from any of those points.

Install a standard AED sign above the unit, high enough to be seen over people and equipment.

Add directional signs at corridor turns, stairwells, and elevator landings.

Mark every AED on posted emergency evacuation maps and in new-hire orientation materials.

Check sight lines from the far end of the hallway, not just from beside the cabinet.

The typical mistake is a small sign at eye level that a door swing, plant, or rolling cart hides. Walk the approach from several directions after any furniture or layout change.

To measure, run a quick walkthrough survey: ask a sample of staff to point to the nearest AED. The percentage who can do so tells you whether signs and training are working. Anything well short of nearly everyone means more signs or a reminder in your next safety meeting.

5. Protect the Device From Temperature, Moisture, and Tampering

AEDs contain a battery and adhesive electrode pads, and both degrade outside the manufacturer's stated operating and storage ranges. Heat shortens battery life, cold can reduce battery performance, and moisture can damage the unit or the pads. A device that looks fine on the wall may fail its self-test or underperform when needed.

Consider a landscaping company that keeps its AED in a heated, insulated cabinet inside a service truck rather than in the open cargo bed, where summer heat and winter cold swing widely. The crew gets coverage in the field without exposing the device to extremes.

To get this right, read your model's temperature and humidity specifications in the manufacturer's documentation, since ranges differ by brand and model and should be verified for your unit. Avoid locations near exterior doors, boilers, direct sun, or pool decks unless a rated cabinet is used. For outdoor, vehicle, or pool-side spots, choose a weather-rated cabinet with heating or cooling as needed, and keep a spare set of pads and a battery stored within spec.

The common mistake is leaving the AED in a hot car, an unheated garage, or a damp utility area for convenience. Seasonal changes matter too, so recheck exposed locations in summer and winter.

Watch the status indicator, which should stay in its ready state, and track whether battery and pad expiration dates are being cut short by environmental failures. Early failures point to a bad location.

6. Check Local and State Requirements Before You Install

AED laws vary by state and sometimes by facility type. Some jurisdictions require AEDs in particular settings such as gyms, schools, or public venues. Others address medical oversight, EMS registration, notification, and maintenance duties. Good-Samaritan protections for users also differ in scope. Verify current rules for Washington, Oregon, and California directly, since they are not interchangeable and they change.

As an illustration, a Portland-area fitness studio confirms Oregon requirements, registers its unit with local EMS where applicable, and notes the check date in its safety binder. Months later, when an auditor or insurer asks, the file answers the question.

Contact your state health department or local EMS agency and ask what applies to your facility type.

Review the relevant statutes and any local ordinances or building codes.

Consult your insurer or legal counsel about coverage and liability questions.

Document each answer with a date, name, and source.

Set a reminder to repeat the check at least once a year.

The frequent error is assuming one state's rules apply everywhere, which matters for organizations operating across the West Coast. The other is checking once and never again after laws change.

The measure is a dated compliance file for each location, reviewed at least annually. If a business owner wonders about legal exposure from using an AED, that belongs in the counsel conversation rather than a guess.

7. Pair Every AED With Trained Responders and a Response Plan

An AED gives spoken instructions, and untrained people can use one, but confidence and speed rise sharply with practice. CPR and defibrillation work together, and a trained team handles the rest of the emergency: calling 911, starting compressions, retrieving the device, and meeting EMS at the door. Without assigned roles, bystanders often freeze or all do the same task.

Imagine a school office where staff hold current CPR/AED certification and run a drill twice a year. The drill ends only when the AED reaches the simulated patient and a staff member meets responders at the entrance.

Enroll staff in an American Red Cross or American Heart Association CPR/AED course. Taylored Instruction offers both, and healthcare staff may need BLS instead.

Write a short plan that names who calls 911, who retrieves the AED, who starts CPR, and who guides EMS.

Make sure every shift has trained people on site, not just days.

Schedule drills and track recertification dates, since certifications expire.

The mistake to avoid is buying the AED and assuming untrained staff will figure it out. A plan that lives only in the owner's head fails when that person is out.

Measure the number of trained staff per shift and the drill time from alarm to AED arrival at the scene. Both numbers should improve with each drill.

8. Maintain, Inspect, and Register the AED on a Schedule

Most AEDs run daily or weekly self-tests and show a status indicator, but they cannot replace and restock themselves. Batteries and electrode pads expire, and a missing pad set is a failure no self-test will warn you about. Maintenance only happens reliably when one named person owns it.

For example, imagine a facilities manager who uses a monthly checklist, replaces pads before they expire, and registers the AED so the manufacturer can send recall alerts. Nothing about this is complicated, which is why it works.

Name a program owner and a backup.

Build a monthly checklist: status indicator, battery, pads, cabinet condition, and supplies such as a razor, gloves, and a pocket mask.

Record expiration dates and set reminders well ahead of them.

Keep spare pads, and a spare battery if your model allows.

Register the unit with the manufacturer and with any state or local program that requires it.

The classic failure is ignoring a chirping unit or letting pads and batteries lapse unnoticed. A chirp is a warning that needs action the same day.

Track the monthly inspection completion rate and the number of expired components, which should be zero.

Where to Start and How the Pieces Fit Together

Begin with the three-minute retrieval test and a coverage map, because they tell you how many AEDs you need and where they go. Then settle signage, mounting, and legal checks, and finish by training responders and scheduling monthly inspections. A well-placed AED is only as good as the people and maintenance behind it.

Taylored Instruction can help at each step, from AED sales and site assessments to CPR/AED courses through both the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association, serving Vancouver WA, the Portland metro area, Clark County, and San Luis Obispo CA. Don't wait until an emergency happens. Get the life-saving certification you need today. Register for a CPR, First Aid, or Lifeguarding class and gain the confidence and skills to respond when it matters most.