Indoor or outdoor AED cabinet: how to choose

An automated external defibrillator must remain available at all times, including at night and on public holidays. A wall cabinet protects it from dust, impacts and attempts to open it by unauthorised people. Many recent models include a sound alarm that triggers on opening, which deters theft while alerting staff present in the building.

The choice of cabinet directly affects the lifespan of the equipment it houses. An electrode or a battery exposed to large temperature swings can wear out before the 2 to 5 years and 3 to 5 years announced by manufacturers. The AED itself, built to last 8 to 10 years or more, only keeps that promise if it stays within its operating temperature range.

Indoors, in a reception hall, a corridor or a heated room, a simple cabinet is enough. It mainly protects against impacts and accidental handling, since ambient temperature stays stable all year. The plainest models suit most offices, shops and town hall reception areas that close their doors in the evening.

For a neater look or better visibility from the entrance, some cabinets add built-in signage or a sturdier finish, without changing the basic principle: protecting the device without having to manage frost or rain.

A cabinet installed on a facade, a boundary wall or a car park must withstand frost, heat and bad weather. Built-in heating keeps the internal temperature within the range tolerated by the battery and electrodes, even in severe cold. This is the case for several models fitted with an alarm and a heating system, priced from €249 to over €600 including VAT depending on the level of protection.

Ventilated, heated versions with alarms also exist for highly exposed sites, and a solar wall version allows equipping a location without easy access to a power socket. The budget for an outdoor cabinet is therefore higher than for an indoor model, but it avoids premature replacement of the battery or electrodes.

Whichever model is chosen, the cabinet must remain visible from the building entrance, or from the public road for an outdoor AED. The signage required by the French order of 29 November 2018 (arrêté du 29 novembre 2018) indicates the exact location of the defibrillator and must be visible from a distance. Many cabinets come with a compliant sticker or panel, but this point deserves checking before purchase.

The location of the defibrillator, whether installed indoors or outdoors, must also appear in the GéoDAE registration. This step remains mandatory regardless of the type of cabinet chosen, and it allows emergency services to direct a bystander to the nearest device in the event of a cardiac arrest.

The central question is accessibility outside opening hours. A shop or office that closes in the evening can settle for an indoor cabinet, provided the intended public is staff or customers present during opening hours. Conversely, a town hall, a sports club with outdoor facilities, or a venue open to the public in the evening benefit from installing the AED outdoors, accessible at all times.

For public-facing establishments, the building category also matters. In France, categories 1 to 3 (ERP, establishments open to the public) have been required to have a defibrillator since 1 January 2020, category 4 since 2021 and some category 5 sites since 2022, under law 2018-527 and its implementing decree 2018-1186. A venue open over long hours has an interest in choosing a heated outdoor cabinet, so the defibrillator stays usable even when no staff are present.

Maintenance of the defibrillator remains the responsibility of the operator, as specified in article R. 5212-25 of the French public health code (article R. 5212-25 du Code de la santé publique). This responsibility also covers the cabinet: a door that closes poorly, an alarm that no longer triggers, or broken heating undermine the availability of the device just as much as a flat battery.

A regular visual check of the cabinet, carried out alongside the AED's self-tests, avoids this kind of unpleasant surprise. This simple check, a few seconds each month, usefully complements the maintenance log already kept for the defibrillator itself.