AED (defibrillator) maintenance: pads, battery and checks

An automated external defibrillator (AED) may only be used once, but on that day it has to work. Faced with a cardiac arrest, only a few minutes remain to act: a device with a flat battery or expired pads becomes useless at the worst moment. Maintenance is therefore not an administrative formality, it is what guarantees an AED will keep its promise.

Why AED maintenance is vital

Every year, tens of thousands of people suffer a cardiac arrest, and the survival rate stays low. Early defibrillation, combined with cardiac massage, sharply increases the chances of survival. An accessible but out-of-order AED cancels all that benefit. Keeping the fleet in working order is therefore a matter of people's safety, not just compliance.

The consumables to watch

Two parts of an AED have a limited lifespan and must be replaced before they expire:

• the pads, which usually expire between eighteen and thirty months, and must be replaced after every use;
• the battery, whose life ranges from two to five years depending on the model;
• the paediatric pads or attenuator, when the device equips a place that welcomes children.

Anticipating these deadlines avoids a gap, because an AED does not always warn early enough that a consumable is reaching its end.

Self-tests are not enough

Most AEDs run regular self-tests, daily or weekly, and signal a fault with an indicator or an audible signal. That is valuable, but not sufficient: someone still has to look at that indicator. A device flashing red in an empty lobby for weeks alerts no one. Human checking remains essential.

The regular visual check

A simple check, doable by staff, is enough to catch the essentials:

• the device is present at its location and accessible;
• the status indicator shows normal operation;
• the sign is visible and the cabinet, where fitted, is undamaged;
• the expiry dates of the pads and battery are not overdue.

A servicing duty for the operator

The rules require the operator of an AED to service it according to the manufacturer's recommendations. In other words, installing a defibrillator is not enough: you must be able to demonstrate that it is serviced and operational over time. Without documented tracking, that duty is hard to prove.

Indoor or outdoor: different constraints

An AED installed outdoors, on a facade or in a public space, endures frost, heat and damp. It requires a suitable cabinet, often heated and sometimes alarmed, and closer watch over consumables, whose life can be shortened by temperature swings. Indoors, the climate constraints disappear, but the device can be moved, hidden by furniture or forgotten at the end of a corridor. In both cases, knowing the exact location and the real state of each device remains the basis of reliable tracking.

What to do after a use

An AED that has been used, even if no shock was finally delivered, must be restored without delay: replacing the pads, checking the battery, cleaning the device and confirming proper operation before returning it to service. The event data, recorded by the device, may also be useful to the medical team. A defibrillator left as is after a use is a device that will not serve again.

Who handles maintenance day to day

Responsibility lies with the operator, but in the field several people are involved: the staff who carry out the visual checks, a safety officer who steers the deadlines, sometimes a contractor to supply the consumables. Without a point of coordination, the roles blur and no one notices that a battery is reaching its end. A shared medium, where every check is logged, brings clarity back to this tracking and prevents vigilance from resting on a single person.

Track your AEDs with KARTES

With KARTES AED, every defibrillator becomes a geolocated record: model, location, pad and battery expiry dates, condition and check history. Upcoming deadlines surface automatically, visual checks are recorded in the field with a photo, and you keep timestamped proof of every intervention. No more forgotten spreadsheet: the fleet is tracked continuously, from the field to the dashboard.

Key points

• An out-of-order AED cancels all the benefit of early defibrillation.
• Pads and battery have a limited lifespan: anticipate replacements.
• Self-tests do not replace a regular visual check.
• The operator must carry out and document maintenance.
• A geolocated inventory with deadlines prevents gaps and secures the proof.