How to Get a Community AED
Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) can happen anywhere to anyone. SCA victims require CPR within two minutes and defibrillation within ten to have a chance of survival. More and more communities are becoming aware of the threat that SCA poses and are becoming increasingly keen to invest in a defibrillator to have on hand in the event of a cardiac emergency. However, automated external defibrillators (AEDs) can be expensive pieces of equipment and may be a significant investment. Getting a community public access AED (cPAD) can be difficult on a tight budget and requires some creativity and teamwork to raise the funds to purchase the device and provide training and upkeep.
We’ll cover what you need to do to get a community AED, including what considerations you need to make, getting a team together, fundraising initiatives, options for grant applications, and choosing the right AED for your community’s needs.
Some Factors You Need to Consider
Simply acquiring an AED for your church, town hall, business, sports facility, or other community centre is not necessarily the most beneficial solution for your community. Identifying your community’s needs for an AED first is critical. It’s important to research how many publicly accessible AEDs are already available in your local area to determine the most suitable location for an additional AED, factoring in areas of higher footfall and any previous incidences of SCA and their outcomes. By getting an idea of the current network of cPADs already available in the area it will help to determine the best location for additional devices to improve response times. If all AEDs are close together rather than spread out over high footfall areas, certain areas around your community will be less covered in the event of a SCA so careful planning and consideration should go into determining the best location for a community AED. As a rough guide, the Resuscitation Council UK guidance states an AED should be two minutes’ brisk walk away.
Also, in many cases, especially if you are seeking grants or funding for your community AED, it will require an outdoor cabinet and a 24-hour power source for lighting and preventing frost or overheating to operate correctly so ensuring the AED will be located somewhere it will be connected to a power source is important. It makes sense to ensure that the AED is accessible at all times rather than kept in a locked building, so choose a location for your AED where it can be accessed by anyone, well-lit with clear signage so it’s ready for use at any time.
Set Fundraising Goals for Your AED
It’s essential that you set clear and achievable fundraising goals for your community AED from the beginning. Make sure that you know:
- How many AEDs you need (the individual cost of each device)
- Installation costs
- Maintenance costs
- How much you’ll need to invest in training
- Costs of replacement items like batteries and electrode pads
Once you have set your fundraising goal, you can use this free downloadable poster to track your progress as you continue to raise money:
Choose a Trusted Supplier for Your Community Defibrillator
Ensure that you invest in an AED from a supplier you can trust and from a brand you can rely on. At Steroplast, we stock AEDs and accessories from leading international defibrillator manufacturers ZOLL and iPAD.
Our ZOLL AEDs all come with Real CPR Help Technology built-in, which provides feedback on the depth and rate of chest compressions rescuers provide throughout CPR. CPR is central to ensuring that cardiac arrest victims have a chance of survival, so having a defibrillator that helps rescuers provide the best quality CPR significantly improves rescue outcomes. ZOLL AEDs are particularly well-suited for untrained lay people who are responding to a cardiac arrest, so this is worth factoring into your decision-making when considering who is most likely to be around to use your community AED in the event of a cardiac emergency.
All our iPAD defibrillators provide visual and audio prompts for clear guidance throughout a cardiac rescue. Their electrodes are dual-purpose, meaning they can be used on adults or children safely, and the AED can switch to child-safe defibrillation energy levels as required. iPAD AEDs would be an ideal choice for community sites where there are many children present.
Get a Fundraising Team Together
Form a team of fundraisers made up of dedicated individuals who are committed to the cause of making your community safer with an AED. This team could be made of up of local volunteers, community leaders, healthcare professionals, school staff, etc. Allocate team roles and responsibilities according to members’ different strengths and abilities, focusing on accounting, event organising, social media marketing, business partnerships, and reaching out to potential donors.
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Develop Your Messaging
In order to fundraise effectively, you’ll need to develop a compelling message and story that people will want to support. You need to get across that AEDs save lives. It’s worth including these facts to make sure people understand the importance of having access to an AED close by in the event of an SCA in your local area:
- An estimated 350,000 people have an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest each year across Europe
- Each minute without defibrillation during a cardiac arrest lowers a victim’s chances of survival by up to 10%
- A cardiac arrest victim has just 5% chance of survival if nothing is done until the emergency services arrive
Your messaging will need to be clear, easy to understand and emotionally engaging. Think about the reasons that you want to get an AED in your community and how you can encourage people to get behind your cause and donate money.
Have a think about these things and how they can be included in your messaging:
- Are there any SCA deaths or survivals that your initiative is in response to?
- Are there any real-life stories you can use as part of your messaging?
- Is your local area particularly sparse in terms of AEDs and needs to be more resourced to keep people safe?
Use this map on ambulance response times to find out the average response time in your area. This could help demonstrate how important it is to take action rather than waiting for an ambulance to arrive. For example, in some parts of Cambridgeshire, only 22% of life-threatening calls receive a response within 8 minutes.
Use this free ZOLL AED-dedicated poster to help get across your messaging when advertising your fundraising events and spreading the word about your cause.
Ways to Fundraise for a Community AED
There are many different options regarding fundraising for your AED. Approach local businesses and community organisiations to see if they’ll consider partnering with you to support your cause, possibly donating items or services as prizes for raffles, or to sponsor events.
Community Events
Some simple options include community events such as:
- Raffles
- Bake sales
- Car washes
- Carboot sales
- Silent auctions
Any kind of event where community members can come together and get involved to raise funds is ideal, including village fairs, charity concerts, and community barbeques, all centred around raising funds for an AED for the community. Advertising the events with posters, flyers, and online via social media is a great way to spread awareness for the cause and boost attendance, maximising the amount of money raised at the events.
Sponsorships
Sponsored sporting events such as fun runs, bike rides, or marathons, or sponsored challenges like skydives or mountain climbs are also great ways to raise money from dedicated individuals who are happy to support the cause. Ask the person or people doing the sponsored challenges to use their social media and network to spread the message and get sponsorships that can go towards your fundraising target.
You can download this free ZOLL sponsorship form to use when collecting donor information for your events:
Online Fundraising Platforms
Setting up a page for your community AED on an online fundraising platform is also a great way to raise funds, spreading awareness at the click of a button.
Some well-established online fundraising platforms we recommend are (Click to view):
Ensure that your message and goals are clearly conveyed on these pages and that your team and supporters circulate the page on social media and via email to ensure it reaches as many people as possible.
Apply for AED Funding and Grants
While fundraising online and within your community can be highly effective, there are some options to apply for grants and funding to support the purchase of an AED for your community group.
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) offers funding for community AEDs as long as your application meets certain criteria, including 24-hour access to the AED in a public location with a clear need for it in that area. BHF-funded AEDs are not available to law enforcement, the military, educational establishments, private companies or businesses, dental practices or GP surgeries.
Organisations like AED Donate and Red Sky Foundation offer partial funding for community AEDs (cPADs) and support with fundraising and grant applications. GotAED offers support in helping organisations with the AED grant application process.
Enlist the Media
Approach local media outlets including radio, newspapers, magazines, and TV stations to spread awareness about your AED fundraising efforts. Gaining media attention about your cause, events and fundraising targets will help to boost attendance at your events and attract more donors.
What To Do Once You’ve Raised Enough Funds
Once all the hard fundraising work is complete and you’ve reached your target, there’s still more to be done. Make sure to thank those involved, including donors, volunteers, businesses and organisations that have offered support and partnerships, and anyone else involved in the fundraising efforts. Thank you notes, emails, and newsletters are a great way to do this and will help you maintain awareness that a community AED will be available for use in the local area.
You’ll next need to decide on which AED to invest in for your community if you haven’t already. This may be determined by any grants you have received from supporting organisations. Make sure you purchase an AED from a reputed supplier like Steroplast. We stock defibrillators from leading brands ZOLL and iPAD which are recognised internationally for their usability and effectiveness in cardiac emergencies.
We can help with any questions you might have about installing your AED and have many helpful resources available on our Knowledge Base to support you in defibrillator training once the device is installed.
Check out these articles to learn more:
From the Steroplast Knowledge Base
See how we’re helping Manchester United improve stadium safety
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Once your AED is installed, ensure that everyone in your community is made aware of its location and purpose.
Download this free poster to signpost its location around the local area:
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Training
Finally, organise first aid or basic life support training sessions for community members on how to use the defibrillator and provide CPR to ensure it can be used most effectively in the event of a cardiac emergency.
Ongoing Maintenance
AEDs are designed to undergo regular self-checks to ensure they are operating correctly and ready for use when needed. However, they will also need to be checked manually. Ensure that someone is responsible for monitoring the AED regularly to ensure there are no issues with the device and that it has not been tampered with if it’s publicly accessible.
The electrode pads and batteries also expire after several years, and any used electrodes cannot be used again. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that these are replaced when required to ensure that the AED is ready and operational when it’s next needed. You can purchase replacement batteries and electrodes for various AED devices from our website.
