How Businesses Can Prepare For Sudden Cardiac Arrest...

Sudden cardiac arrest can strike a 30-year-old on the warehouse floor or a customer at your front desk, and the minutes that follow decide the outcome. Sudden cardiac arrest happens when the heart stops pumping effectively, usually because of an electrical malfunction. A heart attack is different: it is a blockage of blood flow, and the person is typically still conscious. This guide shows how businesses can prepare for sudden cardiac arrest emergencies by building a written plan that gets a collapsed person CPR and an AED shock within minutes. Before you start, gather a rough headcount, a floor plan of your site, and the name of someone with authority to approve a small safety budget.

Step 1: Assess your workplace risk and response gap

Start with a map. Mark every floor, separate building, warehouse, parking area, and remote work zone, then walk from the farthest point to the center of the building and time it. That number tells you how far a responder must travel before anyone even reaches a patient.

Next, count who is on site, shift by shift. Include customers, visitors, and contractors, because cardiac arrest is not limited to employees. A retail store, gym, or lobby may have far more non-employees than staff at peak hours, and night shifts often have the fewest trained people.

Then find out how long help typically takes. Call the non-emergency line of your local EMS or fire service and ask about average response times to your address. Do not use the 911 line for this. The American Heart Association's guidelines emphasize that survival drops with every minute that passes without CPR and defibrillation, so a long EMS response time means your own on-site response matters even more.

Finally, check legal requirements. Some states and cities require AEDs or workplace training for certain business types, such as health clubs, schools, or larger public buildings. Rules vary and change, so as of 2026 confirm current requirements with your state health department or legal counsel.

Write down your findings in a short gap summary: distances, headcount by shift, EMS response time, and any legal obligations. You will use it in every step that follows.

Step 2: Choose and buy the right AED for your site

An AED is a portable device that analyzes a person's heart rhythm and delivers a shock only if one is needed. It will not shock someone who does not need it, which is why untrained bystanders can use one safely by following its prompts.

Compare models on these points:

• Semi-automatic or fully automatic: semi-automatic units ask the rescuer to press a shock button, while fully automatic units deliver the shock themselves after a warning.
• Voice and visual prompts: clear, calm instructions matter most for first-time users.
• Pediatric capability: if children visit, choose pediatric pads or a pediatric mode.
• Environmental ratings: check dust, water, and temperature ratings if the unit will sit in a warehouse, garage, or unheated space.

For quantity, the commonly cited goal is reaching a patient within about 3 minutes of collapse. Use your walk times from Step 1. A large floor, multiple levels, or distant buildings may each need their own unit rather than one AED for the whole company.

Budget for ownership, not just the purchase. Pads and batteries have expiration dates and must be replaced, so add them to your annual cost. Check current manufacturer pricing at the time of purchase, since it changes.

The mistake to avoid is buying the cheapest unit without looking at warranty length, technical support, and whether replacement pads and batteries are easy to get. A bargain device that cannot be serviced or restocked becomes a liability.

Step 3: Place AEDs where they can be reached in seconds

An AED in a manager's office or a locked cabinet fails the people it is meant to protect. Place units in visible, unlocked, central spots along main walkways, near elevators, cafeterias, gyms, and high-traffic entrances. Anyone should be able to grab one without asking permission.

Use wall-mounted cabinets with clear AED signage that can be seen from a distance. Add directional signs at corners and stairwells so someone who has never seen the unit can still follow the trail to it.

Alarmed cabinets can draw attention and deter tampering, but use them only if they do not slow access. A cabinet that requires a key or code defeats the purpose. If you install an alarm, confirm the door opens instantly and that staff know the alarm is expected.

Then test your placement in two ways:

1. The stranger test: ask someone unfamiliar with the building to find the nearest AED with no help. Note where they hesitate or turn the wrong way, and fix the signs.
2. The walk-through test: time a person from the farthest desk or work area to the AED, then from the AED to a mock patient location. Compare the round trip to your 3-minute goal.

If the round trip is too long, move the unit or add another one. Repeat the test for night shifts and for areas like parking lots or loading docks, where the nearest AED may be far away.

Step 4: Train employees in CPR, AED use, and BLS where needed

Equipment alone does not save anyone. People who are willing and prepared to use it do. Match the training to the role:

• General response team: hands-on CPR and AED certification.
• BLS training: for staff in healthcare-adjacent, security, fitness, or childcare roles, where a higher standard of response is expected.

Every trainee should leave able to do the core sequence: recognize that a person is unresponsive and not breathing normally (gasping counts as abnormal), call 911, start chest compressions, attach the AED, and follow its prompts until EMS takes over.

Plan coverage, not just headcount. You want enough trained people on every shift so a response never depends on one person being present. Account for vacations, turnover, and part-time schedules, and train more people than the minimum you think you need.

Certifications expire. Many CPR and BLS courses are valid for about two years, but confirm the period with your chosen provider. Record each person's expiration date and schedule renewals now, rather than discovering a lapse after an incident.

Address fear directly, because it keeps capable people from acting. Many employees worry about hurting the patient or being sued. A person in cardiac arrest is not breathing and has no pulse, so compressions cannot make things worse. Every state has Good Samaritan laws that protect people who help in an emergency, but they vary in scope. Recommend that your leadership check local law or consult counsel, then share what they learn with staff.

Step 5: Write an emergency action plan with assigned roles

In a real emergency, people freeze unless they already know their job. Write the sequence in plain language and assign it to roles, not names:

1. The person who finds the victim checks responsiveness and breathing, then calls 911 or directs a specific person to do it.
2. A second person fetches the AED.
3. A third person starts CPR immediately.
4. A fourth person meets EMS at the entrance and guides them in.

Name a backup for each role, since the primary person may be absent or be the one in trouble. Turn the plan into a one-page instruction sheet and post it near phones and at every AED cabinet.

Add the details that responders will not remember under stress: gate codes, elevator keys or override instructions, and the exact street address to give the dispatcher. If your building is large or shared with other tenants, decide who will meet EMS and lead them to the patient, and tell the other tenants or front desk how the process works.

Include a post-event section too:

• Who stays with and calms bystanders.
• Who notifies family and management.
• How to keep the AED in place and unused afterward so its recorded data can be handed to EMS or retrieved as needed.
• How you will offer support to employees who witnessed or took part in the event, such as time off or access to counseling resources.

Step 6: Stock supporting first aid and bleeding control supplies

Each AED should have a small kit beside it, or inside its case, with the items a rescuer needs in the first minute:

• A CPR face shield or pocket mask.
• Disposable gloves.
• Trauma shears to cut clothing.
• A razor, to remove chest hair that blocks pad contact.
• A towel, to dry a wet or sweaty chest.

This guide focuses on cardiac arrest, but workplaces face other life-threatening emergencies, such as severe bleeding from a machine injury or a fall. A complete response kit often also includes tourniquets and bleeding control supplies, so consider adding them while you are building the kit. Training matters here as well, since these items work best in trained hands.

Store everything together in one clearly labeled kit so responders do not hunt through drawers. Keep the contents list on the outside, and place the kit in the same spot as the AED so people find both at once.

The common mistake is building the kit once and never looking at it again. Gloves dry out, shears go missing, and razors get borrowed. Tie restocking to the monthly inspection described in the next step, so each check confirms the supplies as well as the device.

Step 7: Maintain equipment, run drills, and review the plan

A plan decays quietly. Maintenance keeps it alive.

Monthly inspections

Create a checklist and assign one person, with a backup, to complete it. Confirm each of these, then log the date and initials:

• The status indicator light shows the AED is ready.
• Pad and battery expiration dates are still valid.
• The cabinet is undamaged and the signs are visible.
• Access is clear, with nothing stacked in front of the unit.
• The supporting kit from Step 6 is complete.

Drills and debriefs

Run a realistic drill at least twice a year with a training manikin and a trainer AED. Vary the shift, time of day, and location, and time each step: recognition, the 911 call, AED arrival, and first compression. After every drill or real event, hold a short debrief. Ask what slowed people down, which signs were unclear, and who was missing.

Updates and registration

Revise the plan when you move offices, change layouts, add staff, or when guidelines change. Check current American Heart Association guidance periodically for updates to CPR and defibrillation recommendations. Also find out whether your state requires AED registration with local EMS, and register each unit if it does, so dispatchers can direct callers to your device.

Keeping the plan ready after the first drill

Review your plan right after the first drill, fix whatever slowed responders down, and put recurring inspection, training renewal, and drill dates on the calendar. A plan that is checked on schedule is far more likely to work on the day it is needed.

Ready to put safety into action? Whether you need CPR certification, workplace safety training, or guidance on selecting and maintaining life-saving equipment such as AEDs, we're here to help. 360 Safety offers CPR training, BLS training, AEDs, tourniquets, and first aid products, and our programs are designed to help individuals and organizations respond confidently when every second counts. Schedule your training today and take the next step toward creating a safer, more prepared workplace and community.