Florida AED Requirements: Who Needs One, Training, and Liability

Florida AED requirements fall into two categories: a short list of places that must have an automated external defibrillator on site, and a broader set of maintenance and training conditions that any owner has to meet to keep the civil liability protection the state offers. Only public schools with athletic programs, assisted living facilities with 17 or more beds, and dental offices are required to have an AED. The Cardiac Arrest Survival Act expressly does not require any other building or location to carry one.¹

Who Must Have an AED

Public Schools With Athletic Programs

Every public school that belongs to the Florida High School Athletic Association must keep an operational AED on grounds, available in a clearly marked and publicized location for every athletic contest, practice, workout, and conditioning session, including events outside the regular school year.²

Schools also carry a registration duty that other owners do not. Each AED’s location must be registered with a local emergency medical services medical director, and every employee or volunteer expected to use the device must be notified in writing each year of where it is kept on campus.²

Assisted Living Facilities With 17 or More Beds

A Florida-licensed assisted living facility with 17 or more beds must have a functioning AED on the premises at all times.³ Facilities under that bed count are not covered by the mandate. Registering the device with the local EMS medical director is encouraged but not required.

Dental Offices

The Florida Board of Dentistry treats AED possession as a minimum standard of care. Every dental office location must have an AED on site, and a dentist practicing without one is considered to be practicing below the minimum standard of care, which can trigger professional discipline.⁴

Everyone Else

No other business, community association, or public building is required by Florida law to carry an AED. If you choose to have one anyway, you are encouraged to notify the local EMS medical director or the local public safety answering point of the device’s location so dispatchers can direct responders to it in an emergency.⁵ For schools this notification is mandatory; for everyone else it is voluntary.

Maintenance and Testing

Keeping the AED in working order is a condition of civil liability protection. Under the Cardiac Arrest Survival Act, an entity that acquires an AED loses its immunity if it fails to properly maintain and test the device.¹ The statute does not define what proper maintenance looks like, so owners generally follow the manufacturer’s instructions and nationally recognized guidelines.

The American Heart Association’s monthly checklist is a practical benchmark. Monthly tasks include confirming the battery is installed and not expired, checking that electrode pads are in date, verifying the readiness indicator shows a normal status, and inspecting the case for damage. The AHA also recommends an annual program review of the broader emergency response plan.⁶ Logging each check creates a paper trail that can demonstrate compliance if immunity is ever challenged in court.

Training

The training obligation looks different depending on where the AED sits.

At FHSAA Member Schools

A school employee or volunteer with current CPR and AED training must be present at every athletic event during and outside the school year, including contests, practices, workouts, and conditioning sessions. Every employee or volunteer who is reasonably expected to use the defibrillator must complete a CPR course (or a basic first aid course that covers CPR) and demonstrate proficiency in using an AED.²

Everywhere Else

Outside the school context, training is not technically mandatory, but skipping it can strip away liability protection. The Cardiac Arrest Survival Act conditions an acquirer’s immunity on providing appropriate training to any employee or agent who actually uses the device on a victim.¹ Three narrow exceptions apply: the device has built-in audible, visual, or written instructions; the person who used it was not someone who would reasonably have been expected to; or there was not enough time between hiring the employee (or acquiring the AED) and the emergency to reasonably provide training.

Florida’s general AED statute separately encourages anyone who uses a defibrillator to complete CPR training and demonstrate proficiency with the device,⁵ and the state administrative code notes that training can be obtained from a nationally recognized organization.⁷ CPR and AED certifications from organizations like the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association last two years before requiring renewal.⁸

Calling 911 When the AED Is Used

Anyone who uses an AED in Florida must activate the emergency medical services system as soon as possible.⁵ Call 911 immediately, ideally before or while deploying the device. Even if the device restores a normal heart rhythm, the person still needs hospital evaluation.

Civil Liability Protection

The Cardiac Arrest Survival Act creates two layers of civil immunity: one for the person who uses the AED and one for the entity that acquired and made it available.¹

A person who uses or attempts to use an AED on a victim of a perceived medical emergency is immune from civil liability for any resulting harm, as long as the victim did not object. The acquiring entity receives the same protection if it met its maintenance and training obligations. The statute specifically names community associations organized under Florida’s condominium, cooperative, homeowner association, and timeshare chapters as entities that qualify.¹

Insurers cannot require community associations to buy medical malpractice coverage as a condition of issuing other policies, and cannot exclude AED-related damages from a general liability policy issued to the association.¹

Who Cannot Claim Immunity

Several categories of people and entities are excluded from the Act’s protection regardless of compliance:

Anyone whose conduct involved willful misconduct, gross negligence, or reckless disregard for the victim’s safety.
A licensed or certified health care professional who used the AED while acting within the scope of their license and employment.
Health care entities whose primary purpose is providing direct patient care, when the AED was used by an employee acting within the scope of the job.
An entity that leased the device to a health care provider or otherwise provided it for compensation without selling it.
The company that manufactured the device.

The statute is built to protect bystanders, schools, workplaces, and community associations who step up in an emergency, not to shield health care providers from the professional standard of care that already applies to them.

Tampering Is a Crime

Intentionally tampering with an AED or rendering it inoperative is a first-degree misdemeanor in Florida, unless the device is being serviced, tested, repaired, recharged, or inspected. The same penalty applies to obliterating an AED’s serial number to falsify service records.⁵ A first-degree misdemeanor carries up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. The prohibition does not apply to the owner of the device or the owner’s authorized representative.

1
Justia Law. Florida Statutes 768.1325 – Cardiac Arrest Survival Act; Immunity From Civil Liability
2
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 1006.165 – Well-Being of Students Participating in Extracurricular Activities; Training
3
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 429.255 – Use of Personnel; Emergency Care
4
Cornell Law Institute. Florida Administrative Code 64B5-17.015 – Office Safety Requirement
5
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 401.2915 – Automated External Defibrillators
6
American Heart Association. AED Monthly Monitoring Checklist
7
Cornell Law Institute. Florida Administrative Code 64J-1.023
8
American Red Cross. CPR Renewal and Recertification