AED Legal Analysis for Florida
Summary
AED users are encouraged to obtain training and register with local EMS. Business entities are encouraged to obtain an AED, but there is no requirement to do so.
AEDs are required in certain public high schools, and all employees or volunteers who are reasonably expected to use the AED must be trained in CPR/AED. Each such AED must be registered with a local EMS provider.
Good Samaritan protection for good faith rescuers. This protection extends to acquirers if the injury is not due to a failure to perform proper maintenance and testing of the AED or a failure to properly train an employee or agent in CPR/AED.
AEDs are required in schools, dental offices, and certain assisted living facilities. Also required at school athletic contests, practices, workouts, conditioning sessions, including those taking place outside the school year with a CPR/AED certified employee or volunteer present.
CPR/First Aid training is encouraged for students starting in Grade 6 and every 2 years after, and must be based on a nationally recognized program.
AEDs are required in certain public high schools, and all employees or volunteers who are reasonably expected to use the AED must be trained in CPR/AED. Each such AED must be registered with a local EMS provider.
Good Samaritan protection for good faith rescuers. This protection extends to acquirers if the injury is not due to a failure to perform proper maintenance and testing of the AED or a failure to properly train an employee or agent in CPR/AED.
AEDs are required in schools, dental offices, and certain assisted living facilities. Also required at school athletic contests, practices, workouts, conditioning sessions, including those taking place outside the school year with a CPR/AED certified employee or volunteer present.
CPR/First Aid training is encouraged for students starting in Grade 6 and every 2 years after, and must be based on a nationally recognized program.
Related Laws
| Statute | Law Type | Effective Date | Abstract |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amending s. 1006.165, F.S. | Other Requirements | 2020-07-01 | • FHSAA members must have an operational AED on school grounds and available "in a clearly marked and publicized location for each athletic contest, practice, workout, or conditioning session, including those conducted outside of the school year." • Beginning June 1, 2021, a school employee or volunteer with current CPR/AED training, and who is "reasonably expected to use an AED," must be present at each athletic event. • FHSAA members are required to register the location of each AED with the local emergency medical services medical director. And each employee or volunteer who is a trained expected AED user "must annually be notified in writing of the location of each defibrillator on school grounds." • FHSAA members must have AEDs at specified athletic activities. That is a plus. But each school will effectively need to have "roving" AEDs that go where the events are. These will necessarily not be fixed-placement AEDs. So, how is it logistically possible to clearly mark and publicize transient AEDs? Or annually notify expected AED users of transient AED locations? It isn't. • Who is an "expected AED user" anyway? These people will necessarily change over time. And this law's training requirements, like so many similar laws, creates a perception that only formally trained people can retrieve and use AEDs. This unfortunately limits the pool of potential rescuers available when sudden cardiac arrest occurs. • The law requires each AED to be "registered" with a local medical director. Why? the purpose of this registration is not described and the medical director is not required or authorized to do anything with this information. Unlike many other states, Florida (to its credit) does not impose AED location reporting requirements on workplace and community AED programs. For schools, that must meet this requirement, this is another example of an AED law burden with no benefit. |
| Florida Statutes - 1003.453 | Training Requirements | 2018-04-09 | (3) School districts are encouraged to provide basic training in first aid, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation, for all students, beginning in grade 6 and every 2 years thereafter. Instruction in the use of cardiopulmonary resuscitation must be based on a nationally recognized program that uses the most current evidence-based emergency cardiovascular care guidelines. The instruction must allow students to practice the psychomotor skills associated with performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation and use an automated external defibrillator when a school district has the equipment necessary to perform the instruction. Private and public partnerships for providing training or necessary funding are encouraged. |
| Fla. Admin. Code R. 64B5-17.015 | Mandate | 2017-02-14 | Requires all dental office locations to have an AED. |
| West's F.S.A. § 429.255 | Mandate | Requires assisted living facilities with 17 or more beds to have an AED. | |
| West's F.S.A. § 401.2915 | Recommendations | The law provides recommendations for those entities that acquire AEDS. All persons who use an AED are encouraged to obtain appropriate training. Any person or entity in possession of an AED is encouraged to notify the local emergency medical services medical director or the local public safety answering point of the location of the automated external defibrillator. Any person who uses an AED shall activate the emergency medical services system as soon as possible upon use of the automated external defibrillator. It is a criminal offense to intentionally tamper with an AED to render it inoperative. Also, obliterating the serial number on an AED for purposes of falsifying service records is a criminal offense. | |
| West's F.S.A. § 768.1325 | Good Samaritan | The law limits civil liability under certain circumstances of use, or an attempted use, of an AED. Any person who acquired the device and makes it available for use is immune from such liability, if the harm was not due to the failure of such person to: (a) properly maintain and test the device; or (b) provide appropriate training in the use of the device to an employee or agent of the acquirer, The training requirement does not apply if: i) the device is equipped with audible, visual, or written instructions on its use, including any such visual or written instructions posted on or adjacent to the device; ii) the employee or agent was not an employee or agent who would have been reasonably expected to use the device; or iii) the period of time elapsing between the engagement of the person as an employee or agent and the occurrence of the harm, or between the acquisition of the device and the occurrence of the harm in any case in which the device was acquired after engagement of the employee or agent, was not a reasonably sufficient period in which to provide the training. | |
| West's F.S.A. § 1006.165 | Mandate | Requires each public school that is a member of the Florida High School Athletic Association to have an operational AED on the school grounds. |
We make every attempt to ensure the accuracy of our research regarding automated external defibrillator (AED) unit laws in each state across the country, however, with laws varying from state-to-state and even on a local basis, as you might imagine, staying abreast of constant changes is a very challenging process. As such, it's important to note that our findings should be used for informational purposes only and that any specific AED laws or AED requirements for your AED program should be developed between you and your legal counsel. If you have any suggestions, information, or tips on new or pending AED unit legislation that you feel might help improve our AED requirement pages, please contact us to let us know! By spreading knowledge about how to build and manage legally compliant AED programs, we hope to improve survival rates from sudden cardiac arrest.