Defibrillators in airports: requirements and best practices

An airport terminal is a public venue, generally classified in the highest French category because of the number of people it welcomes at once, passengers, visitors, airline staff and contractors. French law 2018-527 and its implementing decree 2018-1186 require public venues in categories 1 to 3 to carry an automated external defibrillator (AED) since 1 January 2020.

This obligation covers areas open to the public: check-in halls, security checkpoints, boarding lounges, shops and catering areas. It does not exempt the operator from also considering staff-only zones, runways, hangars, freight areas, where footfall is lower but distance from outside emergency services can be greater.

A single defibrillator is never enough in an airport, even a modest one. The distance between a collapse and the nearest device must stay short, roughly a few dozen seconds on foot, which means spreading AEDs across every functional zone of the terminal rather than clustering them near the main entrance.

Priority zones include check-in halls, security checkpoints where queues can linger, boarding lounges, catering areas and common spaces near baggage carousels. Terminals with several floors or satellite buildings need to repeat this coverage at every level, without relying on a lift or escalator to reach the device.

A wall-mounted cabinet, heated or ventilated depending on the site's exposure, protects the device from heavy foot traffic and constant visual checks typical of these locations. In areas exposed to weather, outdoor boarding gates, car parks, a weatherproof outdoor cabinet is preferable to a model designed for indoor use only.

An airport regularly renewing its fleet or equipping a new terminal can choose between purchase, with a 5-year warranty and delivery within 2 to 5 working days after a quote issued within 24 hours, and rental, available from 50 euros excl. VAT per month with maintenance included, which simplifies tracking a fleet spread across several sites.

Signage must follow the models set by the French order (arrêté) of 29 November 2018, visible from the main circulation routes. In an airport, an international clientele makes the standardised pictogram particularly useful: it is understood without translation, unlike text that would need several language versions to stay effective.

Additional directional signs from the busiest areas, check-in desks, boarding gates, retail zones, help travellers and staff alike locate the nearest device without hesitation. Registering each device on GéoDAE, France's national AED directory, also lets emergency services know the exact layout of the site before they even arrive.

In France, anyone can use an automated external defibrillator without prior training, the device guides the user through every step by voice. In an airport, staff who interact with the public, ground agents, security staff, catering and retail employees, still benefit from first-aid training so they can act without delay during the first, decisive minutes.

Coordination with the central security post is a key point: it is often the first to receive the alert and can guide a bystander to the nearest device by radio. A periodic drill involving security staff and airline personnel helps confirm that everyone knows where the defibrillator for their area is located.

Maintenance of each defibrillator remains the operator's responsibility under article R. 5212-25 of the French public health code (code de la santé publique). At an airport, this obligation covers a large number of devices, which justifies a centralised tracking register recording each unit's location, date of last check and consumables status.

Electrode pads need replacing every 2 to 5 years and batteries every 3 to 5 years, with a regular self-test check on every device in the fleet. A single maintenance contract covering all AEDs on site simplifies this tracking and guarantees a fast response whenever a warning light flags a fault.