Defibrillators in Train Stations and Public Transport

An open train station counts as a public building (ERP, établissement recevant du public in French law), classified by the number of people it can hold. Large stations and multimodal interchange hubs often see several thousand passages a day, which places them in category 1, 2 or 3. These categories have had to carry a defibrillator since 1 January 2020, under law 2018-527 and its implementing decree 2018-1186.

Category 4 stations, smaller ones, followed in 2021, and some category 5 stations in 2022. The duty covers areas open to the public, halls, covered platforms, waiting rooms and connection areas, regardless of the mode served, train, tram, underground or bus.

The category depends on the theoretical number of people, public and staff, calculated from the site's peak footfall. A small rural halt and a large city station do not sit under the same threshold, even if they belong to the same network or the same operator.

The main hall, near the ticket desk or the vending machines, remains the most visible spot and the fastest to reach for a passer-by or a member of staff. In large stations, one unit is not enough: the distance from the furthest platforms must stay compatible with acting within the first few minutes after collapse.

A heated outdoor cabinet suits uncovered platforms or the station forecourt, while an indoor cabinet is enough in areas sheltered from the weather. Either way, the unit must stay reachable outside ticket office hours, including early morning or late evening whenever the station stays open to the public.

The number of units needed depends on the layout. A station with a single platform does not need the same coverage as an interchange hub spread across several levels, with an underpass, a footbridge and a forecourt, where each zone deserves its own assessment.

The station operator, infrastructure manager or local transport authority, depending on the case, bears responsibility for installing and maintaining the unit. This duty stems from article R. 5212-25 du Code de la santé publique (the French public health code), which places the upkeep of the medical device on whoever operates it, whatever their legal status.

Where several operators share one interchange hub, a train station, a tram stop and a bus stop on the same site, it helps to state clearly who runs the self-tests, tracks consumables and files the Géo'DAE listing, so that no operator assumes someone else is covering it.

Signage follows the arrêté du 29 novembre 2018 (the French decree setting AED signage rules). The sign and the directional markers must guide a hurried traveller to the unit without a detour. In a station, where visual cues already compete, platform signs, information screens, adverts, the defibrillator marking must stay clear and repeated from the main entry points.

Registering the unit in Géo'DAE stays compulsory, as for any other site. It lets emergency dispatchers direct a bystander to the nearest unit during a call, which matters in a station where the usual address markers, street and number, do not always help someone find their bearings.

The legal duty targets fixed premises open to the public, not the vehicles themselves. A train, a tram or a bus is therefore not legally required to carry a defibrillator, even though some operators choose to fit one on long distance lines or on the busiest services.

A station agent, a conductor or a security officer present at the moment it happens changes the outcome of a cardiac arrest well before help arrives. Awareness training in the steps that save a life, spotting the arrest, calling for help, chest compressions, using the defibrillator, takes only a few hours and deserves to reach all staff in contact with the public, not just security teams.

A refresher every two or three years keeps the steps fresh in memory and helps new starters learn exactly where the units sit on their site.