Defibrillators in Shops: Legal Duties and Best Practices

A shopping centre, a neighbourhood convenience store or a city-centre boutique welcome anywhere from dozens to several thousand people every day, staff and customers combined. In France, around 50,000 cardiac arrests occur each year, most of them outside a hospital setting, in ordinary places such as a shop or a shopping arcade.

Every minute that passes without defibrillation reduces the chances of survival by roughly 10 percent, while emergency services take on average several minutes to arrive on site. Within that window, an accessible defibrillator and a bystander able to act often make the difference between life and death.

The duty to install a defibrillator depends on the ERP category (établissement recevant du public, a public-facing establishment) the shop belongs to, calculated from the number of people it can accommodate. French law 2018-527 and its implementing decree 2018-1186 made an automated external defibrillator compulsory for ERP categories 1 to 3 from 1 January 2020, then for category 4 from 2021.

Some category 5 ERPs, including certain smaller shops, have been concerned since 2022, under thresholds set by ministerial order and specific to each type of activity. A shopping centre or a large supermarket generally falls into the more demanding categories, while a small boutique may stay in category 5 below the threshold that triggers the duty to equip. In every case, the operator remains responsible for checking the exact category and the date from which the duty applies to their activity.

The choice between an automatic and a semi-automatic device mainly depends on how well trained the staff on site are. An automatic defibrillator (AED) analyses the heart rhythm and delivers the shock on its own if needed, which suits a shop where teams rotate often and are not all trained in first aid.

A semi-automatic model asks the user to confirm the shock after the voice prompt, an option suited to teams trained on a regular basis. Both types of device guide the user by voice from start to finish, and their use remains open to any bystander, trained or not, as provided for under French regulation.

The defibrillator's location must stay visible and accessible at all times during opening hours, near the main entrance or a central passage rather than in a stockroom or a closed office. An outdoor wall-mounted cabinet suits a street-facing front, while an indoor cabinet is enough inside a heated shopping arcade.

Signage follows the ministerial order of 29 November 2018 (arrêté du 29 novembre 2018): the standard pictogram must be visible from the store's main circulation routes, complemented with directional signs if needed. Once installed, every defibrillator must be registered in the national GéoDAE database, which lets emergency services locate the nearest device when a call comes in to the emergency number.

A shop's budget depends on the choice between buying and renting. A complete automatic defibrillator pack, including wall cabinet and signage, starts at 350 euros in the catalogue, up to more than 2,000 euros for more complete models. Rental starts at 50 euros excl. VAT per month, maintenance included, a formula that avoids paying the device's full price upfront.

Electrode pads are replaced every 2 to 5 years depending on the model and cost between 14 and 240 euros a pair, batteries every 3 to 5 years for a price between 10 and 500 euros. A well-maintained device then lasts 8 to 10 years, sometimes longer.

Installing a defibrillator is not enough if no one on the team knows how to react before emergency services arrive. A short first-aid awareness session, covering the emergency call, chest compressions and use of the defibrillator, lets a staff member gain the decisive minutes before professional help steps in.

In a shop where hours and teams rotate, it is better to train several staff members across different shifts rather than a single person, so that a bystander able to act is present during opening hours. This training should be renewed periodically to keep the reflexes sharp, in particular quickly recognising a cardiac arrest and the recovery position in case of loss of consciousness without a confirmed cardiac arrest.