Place every AED where a responder can fetch it and reach any person in your building within about three minutes. Keep it unlocked, visible from the normal path of travel, mounted at an unobstructed height, and marked on a facility map. No single federal rule fixes exact spots, so your state law, your local EMS agency and a walk-through of your own floor plan decide the details. This guide covers each of those pieces in order.
TL;DR
- The standard target is an AED at the victim’s side within 3 minutes of collapse, measured by how fast a responder walking rapidly can get there, not by straight-line distance.
- Mount it where people can see it from the usual route, at an unobstructed height (the AHA cites 48 inches, lower if needed for accessibility), never in a locked office or drawer.
- OSHA does not specifically require AEDs, but many states require or authorize them in particular places such as schools and state-owned buildings.
- Tell your local EMS where your AEDs are, register each device with its manufacturer, and schedule maintenance checks.
Table of Contents
- The 3-minute rule: how to plan coverage
- Where to place an AED so people can find it
- How many AEDs does a facility need?
- What the law requires: federal, state and local
- Tell EMS and register the device
- Keep it ready: maintenance and the resuscitation kit
- Placement is not the same as pad placement
- Our perspective
- Train the people who will use it
- Prepare your team with Building Block Resolutions
- A placement checklist you can use today
- FAQ
- Sources
The 3-minute rule: how to plan coverage
The number behind almost every placement guideline is three minutes. Delaware’s public access defibrillation guidance puts the optimal response time at 3 minutes or less from collapse until the AED is at the victim’s side. It also says to calculate that time based on how long a responder walking rapidly takes to reach the victim.
The American Heart Association (AHA) frames it from the facility’s side. Its Cardiac Emergency Response Plan guidance recommends placing AEDs so a responder can retrieve the device and deliver it to any location in the facility, ideally within 3 minutes of notification of a suspected cardiac emergency.
Notice what that means in practice. The clock covers the whole round trip: someone hears the call, runs to the AED, and runs back. A device that sits 90 seconds away from the far end of a building on the same floor may meet the target. The same device on another floor, behind a door that needs a badge, may not.
Walk it, don’t measure it
A floor plan with circles drawn at a fixed radius misleads. Stairs, elevators, locked doors, long corridors, parking lots and outbuildings all add time. The simplest test is a timed walk:
- Pick the farthest, least convenient spot in the building, such as a back classroom, a loading dock, a gym far corner or a top-floor office.
- Start a timer and walk briskly to the nearest AED, exactly as an untrained coworker would.
- Walk back to the starting point at the same pace.
- If the round trip is over three minutes, add a device or move one closer to that area.
Repeat the test at the busiest time of day, when hallways are crowded, and again after hours if the building hosts evening activities.
Where to place an AED so people can find it
Finding the device is as important as owning it. A few placement principles show up again and again in professional guidance.
Visible from the normal path of travel
The AHA says AED signage should be visible from the normal path of travel. Good spots are the places everyone passes anyway: main lobbies, near entrances, outside cafeterias, beside elevators, along main corridors and next to gymnasiums.
The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) goes further on signs. It recommends signage starting at least 100 meters from the defibrillator and visible from multiple directions, so someone approaching from a side hallway still gets pointed the right way. In a building, that translates to arrows at hallway intersections that lead toward the cabinet, not just a sign directly above it.
Mounted at an unobstructed height
The same AHA document recommends installation at an unobstructed height of 48 inches, and notes the height may be lower for accessibility. Think about who needs to reach it. In an elementary school or a facility serving people who use wheelchairs, a lower mount may be the better call. Keep the wall space in front clear of furniture, carts, plants and stored boxes.
Never locked away
This is the most common mistake. The AHA states that AEDs should not be stored in locked offices or drawers, and must stay accessible at all times the facility is open, including after-hours or community activities. If your gym is rented to a youth league on Saturday night, the AED must be reachable then too, not locked in the front office.
An alarmed cabinet is fine if everyone knows the alarm is only a notice and the door opens without a key. A cabinet needing a code or a key defeats the purpose.
Placement ideas by building type
The table below turns the principles into starting points. Treat it as a checklist for your own walk-through, not a legal standard.
| Setting | Good starting locations | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Office building | Lobby, near elevators, each floor’s main corridor | Time from the farthest desk, including stairs |
| School | Main entrance, gym, cafeteria, athletic fields, near the nurse’s area | Access during evening events and sports practice |
| Childcare or community center | Central hallway, near the main play or meeting area | Mounting height and who can reach it |
| Warehouse or plant | Near break rooms, dock doors, central aisles | Noise, distance and vehicle traffic on the route |
| Multi-building campus | One per building with heavy occupancy, plus fields and parking areas | Walking time between buildings, not just inside them |
How many AEDs does a facility need?
There is no universal count. The number comes out of your timed walk. A compact single-floor office might be covered by one well-placed unit. A multi-story building or a campus with separate gyms, fields and annexes almost certainly needs several. Let coverage decide, not headcount alone.
The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) adds that an AED program should be integrated into an overall occupational emergency response plan, with a qualified medical director overseeing the medical aspects, including a case-by-case review after any AED use. So the question of how many is really part of a bigger plan: who responds, how they are alerted, and who reviews what happened.
If you run a school, our guide to building an AED program for schools walks through that planning for classrooms, gyms and events.
What the law requires: federal, state and local
OSHA
A frequent search is whether OSHA requires an AED on site. In a 2004 interpretation letter, OSHA stated that its first-aid standard, 29 CFR 1910.151, does not specifically require AEDs as first-aid supplies. Employers must still assess their workplace’s first-aid needs. An AED can be a sensible answer to that assessment, but it is not a federal mandate on its own.
State laws
The real requirements live at the state level, and they vary. The CDC’s public access defibrillation fact sheet reports that, as of June 30, 2017, 38 states had laws supporting targeted AED site placement. Of those, 37 required or authorized AEDs in specific locations such as schools, health facilities or state-owned buildings. The same fact sheet found that 42 states had laws requiring or encouraging AED maintenance and testing as of that date.
Those figures describe laws in effect in 2017, so treat them as a picture of how widespread these rules are, not a current list. Statutes change. Check your state health department or EMS office for today’s version, and have legal counsel review your program where appropriate.
Typical state provisions touch on a handful of topics:
- Where AEDs must be placed, such as schools, state buildings and health clubs.
- Signage and accessibility, sometimes naming a clearly marked or easy-to-reach location.
- EMS coordination, including registering the device or notifying dispatch.
- Training of designated users.
- Maintenance and testing schedules.
- Reporting after any use.
Delaware’s guidelines are one example of how this looks on paper: they call for AED registration with the state EMS office and scheduled maintenance checks. Your state may ask for something similar, something lighter, or something stricter.
If you are a teacher or school employee, our state-by-state guide to CPR requirements for teachers covers the training side of the same question.
Tell EMS and register the device
Placement is not finished when the cabinet goes on the wall. The AHA advises informing local emergency response agencies of the number and location of on-site AEDs, and registering each AED with its manufacturer and supplier so you receive recall or alert notices.
Its Cardiac Emergency Response Plan guidance adds that the plan should include lists of AED locations, facility maps and clear protocols for activating local EMS, including telling them how many AEDs are on site and where. A practical way to do this:
- Mark each AED on a floor plan and post copies at the front desk, the nurse’s office or security desk, and in staff handbooks.
- Send the list to your local EMS agency, and update it whenever a device moves.
- Register each device with the manufacturer using its serial number.
- Give the 911 caller a script that includes the building address, the entrance to use and where the nearest AED is.
Keep it ready: maintenance and the resuscitation kit
A perfectly placed AED that has dead batteries or expired pads is worse than useless because people trust it. Build a routine:
- Assign one person, and a backup, to check the status indicator on a set schedule and log it.
- Track the expiration dates of pads and batteries, and keep spares.
- Follow the manufacturer’s maintenance instructions and any state testing rules.
- Re-check the unit after any use, drill or move.
The AHA also suggests storing a resuscitation kit with every AED. Items include latex-free gloves, a razor, scissors, a towel, antiseptic wipes and a CPR barrier mask. The razor handles a hairy chest, the towel dries a wet one, and the scissors cut clothing that cannot be removed quickly.
Placement is not the same as pad placement
Searchers often mix up two questions: where the device goes in a building, and where the pads go on a person. The second one is guided by the voice prompts and the diagrams on the pads themselves, and the correct positions differ for young children. If you care for a child between 1 and 8 years old, read our guide to AEDs for children, including pad placement before an emergency happens, and look at the pad packaging your device uses.
Our perspective
We work every day with children with autism, their families and the school teams around them, and we have seen how fast a calm room can turn into an emergency. What separates a good outcome from a frightening one is almost never equipment alone. It is whether the adults in the room already know their jobs.
That is why we treat AED placement as one piece of a response plan, not a purchase. A cabinet in the right hallway helps only if someone is assigned to grab it, someone else calls 911, and a third person meets responders at the door. We encourage schools and programs to rehearse those roles, including the quiet moments when a child needs to be moved away from a noisy scene.
Our team has more than 20 years of experience in behavioral support, and our crisis management and CPR/AED workshops are built on that background. We teach staff to think about the whole environment: sensory-friendly routes, clear communication with children who may not respond to a stranger’s voice, and plans that families can share with first responders. Hope in an emergency comes from preparation, and preparation is something every facility can start this week.
Jennifer
Train the people who will use it
A well-placed AED still depends on people willing to open the cabinet. Many states encourage or require training for designated users, and the AHA places training and drills inside its emergency response plan guidance. Short, repeated practice builds confidence far better than a once-a-decade session. If your staff’s certifications are due, a blended CPR renewal can fit into a single morning, and our guide to crisis response team roles shows how to assign who does what.
Prepare your team with Building Block Resolutions
We offer behaviorally based staff training, crisis management and CPR/AED workshops for schools, organizations and caregivers. If you want your team to practice who grabs the AED, who calls 911 and how to support a child during the event, see our staff training and services. Pricing is not published, so contact us for details.
For families, our ABA autism therapy and crisis prevention services and our one-page autism crisis plan help you prepare for the moment first responders arrive.
A placement checklist you can use today
- List every building, floor, field and annex people use, including after-hours events.
- Do a timed round-trip walk from the farthest points. Add or move devices until each is within about three minutes.
- Mount each AED in plain view along a common route, at an unobstructed height, with no lock.
- Add signs that are visible from several directions and point the way.
- Place a resuscitation kit with each unit.
- Register devices with the manufacturer and notify local EMS of the number and locations.
- Check your state’s law for required sites, training, maintenance and reporting.
- Assign a maintenance owner and a backup, and log checks.
- Add AED locations to your emergency plan, maps and staff onboarding.
- Drill twice a year and adjust.
FAQ
Does OSHA require an AED on site?
Not specifically. OSHA has said that its first-aid standard, 29 CFR 1910.151, does not specifically require AEDs, but employers must assess their workplace’s first-aid needs. State laws may be stricter for certain kinds of buildings, so check yours.
What is the 3-minute rule for AED placement?
It is the goal of getting the AED to the person within three minutes of collapse or of notification. Delaware’s guidance says to base the estimate on how long a responder walking rapidly needs to reach the victim. Time a real walk, including stairs and doors.
How high should an AED be mounted?
The AHA recommends an unobstructed height of 48 inches, and notes it may be lower for accessibility. Choose the height that everyone who uses the space can reach, and keep the area in front of it clear.
Can we keep the AED in a locked office?
No. The AHA says AEDs should not be stored in locked offices or drawers and should stay reachable whenever the facility is open, including for after-hours and community events. Use a visible, unlocked or alarm-only cabinet instead.
Sources
- Guidelines for Public Access Defibrillation (PAD), Delaware DHSS
- AHA Cardiac Emergency Response Plan and Protocol, April 2025
- AHA Cardiac Emergency Response Plan and Protocol, October 2024
- ACEP: Defibrillator Access in an Emergency
- OSHA interpretation letter on AEDs, 2004
- CDC Public Access Defibrillation State Law Fact Sheet
- ACOEM: Automated External Defibrillation in the Occupational Setting
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