On a condo or HOA property, community association AED preparedness can decide whether a resident survives a sudden cardiac arrest, and many communities have never confirmed that the devices they own actually work. We recently hosted an online seminar with veteran CPR and AED instructor Keith Murray of The CPR School, who has spent two decades helping Florida communities keep reliable, well-maintained defibrillators within reach of residents, staff, and guests.
This educational webinar guided board members and property managers through the key elements of an AED program, including device selection, funding, placement, inspections, legal protections, and team training. Attendees also learned why rapid response is critical during cardiac emergencies and how a well-managed program can help protect residents and the association.
Disclaimer: This video is for educational purposes only. You will not receive credits for watching the recording. Credits were issued only to those that attended the course.
If you enjoyed this video, check out our YouTube channel and subscribe to view all of our educational videos relating to community association management in Florida.
Almost every condo and HOA community should have at least one AED on the property, whether or not a local ordinance requires it. Sudden cardiac arrest can strike anyone, and the amenities that make community living appealing, from pools and fitness centers to tennis courts and clubhouses, are exactly the places where large groups gather and where a device needs to be close at hand.
In Florida, whether an AED is legally required depends mostly on the city rather than the state. Statewide rules generally target settings like dental offices, assisted living facilities, schools, and airports, not residential communities, so questions about HOA defibrillator requirements usually have local answers. Boards weighing AED requirements for Florida condos should check their code of ordinances, because a building of five or more stories may face installation rules that a smaller property does not.
AEDs should be positioned wherever people gather and wherever minutes matter most, such as the pool, fitness center, tennis courts, and clubhouse. Whether the property is a high-rise tower or a sprawling HOA community of single-family homes and shared amenities, a practical test is the three-minute rule, which asks whether, from any point where a resident is likely to collapse, someone can reach a device and return within three minutes. Thoughtful AED placement in condo buildings often means spreading units across the property so no one is ever more than a floor or two from the nearest device.
Speed is the single greatest factor in surviving cardiac arrest outside a hospital, which is why the first few minutes belong to whoever is already on site.
Nationally, only about five percent of people who suffer cardiac arrest outside a hospital survive. Using an AED within the first minute of a collapse offers roughly a ninety percent chance of success, and that figure drops by about ten percentage points with each minute that follows, reaching a coin flip by minute five. CPR alone improves the odds only slightly, while the shock from an AED is what truly changes the outcome.
Even a nearby fire department rarely arrives within the two or three minutes that matter most, so a trained on-site team is what bridges the gap. Once a shock is delivered, the rescuer performs CPR for two minutes, and the device then reanalyzes and decides whether another shock is needed, repeating that cycle until professional help takes over. In one Florida community, an AED was used on an employee who was shocked seven times across a fourteen-minute wait for fire rescue, and that employee recovered and returned to work for more than a decade.
The liability of owning an AED is far smaller than most boards fear, and the genuine risk lies in neglect rather than in the rescue itself.
Two Florida laws shield people who use an AED in good faith during a perceived emergency. The state's Good Samaritan protections and the Florida Cardiac Arrest Survival Act extend immunity to a bystander who steps in, and that immunity reaches the community association as well, as long as the responder acts as a reasonable and prudent person would. The device only analyzes and shocks two fatal rhythms, so a well-meaning rescuer cannot harm someone who does not actually need the shock.
Real legal exposure begins when a community lets its equipment fall out of service. The protection an association enjoys can be pierced if someone is harmed because the device was not properly maintained and tested, or because staff who were expected to use it were never trained. The nightmare scenario is a resident collapsing at the pool only for responders to find a dead battery and pads that expired years earlier, which is a failure of upkeep rather than of the device.
The smartest way to fund an AED program is to buy the devices outright and budget for their upkeep rather than lease them.
Buying an AED outright is dramatically cheaper than leasing one over the life of the device. A new unit generally runs between about fourteen hundred and three thousand dollars and should last eight to ten years, and even after a decade of replacement batteries and pads, the total cost of ownership typically lands in the low thousands. Leasing that same device across ten years can cost several times as much, which is why purchasing and budgeting for upkeep almost always wins. In a high-rise condominium, a common approach is to place devices on odd-numbered floors so the funding stretches further while no resident is ever more than one floor from a unit.
A handful of features are worth prioritizing because they lower long-term cost and suit Florida's climate. A model with a pediatric button, rather than separate pediatric pads, spares a community from replacing those pads every two years. Devices with a longer four- or five-year battery life reduce both maintenance and expense, and a higher ingress protection rating helps a unit withstand the heat, humidity, and dust of an outdoor Florida setting. In communities with many Spanish-speaking residents, a bilingual model that switches from English to Spanish at the push of a button can be well worth the modest premium.
“It's cheaper to throw the AED in the trash can and buy a new one every 5 years than to lease an AED.” - Keith Murray, The CPR School
An AED only saves a life if it works on the day it is needed, which makes routine upkeep the heart of any program.
Every AED on the property should be checked once a month, without exception. A quick look confirms the status indicator is showing its green light or checkmark, that the adult and pediatric pads are within their expiration dates, that the ready kit is complete, and that the device sits in its proper, visible location. Programs fail when no one owns this task and a board simply assumes the equipment is fine, which is how devices end up sitting dead for years with expired pads and drained batteries. A real inspection logs each item rather than only confirming the unit is present.
A properly equipped AED station should also include a ready kit, since the device alone is not enough to prepare someone for a shock. The kit should contain a sealed CPR mask with a one-way valve, full-size trauma shears for cutting away clothing, a razor for shaving chest hair, and paper towels for drying someone who was in the pool or sweating on the tennis court. Electrode pads adhere much like bandages and may not stick properly to wet or heavily haired skin, so the chest needs to be clean, dry, and fully exposed before the pads are applied.
An AED does no good if residents cannot find it quickly, so visibility matters as much as the device itself. Units belong in accessible, high-traffic spots, mounted at an ADA-compliant height rather than tucked behind a plant or hidden away, and they are best housed in an alarmed cabinet that sounds when opened. Clear signage, including three-dimensional wall signs and directional decals, helps everyone locate the nearest unit, and a simple map or inventory of every device keeps the whole program organized. One practical caution for a Florida property is to keep AEDs out of direct sunlight, which prematurely ages the pads, battery, and electronics.
Equipment is only half of preparedness, and a trained, confident team is the other half.
The most effective programs pair working devices with people who feel ready to use them. CPR and AED training for community associations tends to take one of two forms, a four-hour certification class for board members and staff that also covers first aid, Stop the Bleed, strokes, heart attacks, drowning, and choking, or a shorter ninety-minute awareness session that can accommodate a larger group of residents. Whichever format a community chooses, the goal is to remove fear so people respond quickly and confidently. Any security or front-line staff expected to respond to emergencies should be trained and know exactly where each device is kept.
Most communities run their AED program internally, training a team member or board member to handle the monthly checks while bringing in an instructor for periodic classes. Two easy steps strengthen any program further. Calling the non-emergency line for local emergency services to report that the property has AEDs, and where each one is located, means a dispatcher can point a panicked caller to the nearest device. Registering the association's contact information with each device's manufacturer ensures that recall notices and software updates reach the current board rather than a manager from years ago.
The communities that come through a cardiac emergency well are rarely the ones that simply bought a device and forgot about it. They are the ones that treated the AED as a living program, funded sensibly, placed where it counts, inspected every month, and backed by residents and staff who know how to act without hesitation. When preparedness is built into a community's routine rather than left to chance, an AED stops being a box on the wall and becomes what it was meant to be, a genuine second chance at life for whoever needs it.
No. A refurbished AED is fine for personal use in a car or on a boat, but the liability of placing a pre-owned device in a condo or HOA outweighs the savings, so a community should always buy new.
Usually only for larger programs. Wi-Fi lets a manager monitor many devices' status remotely, but it shortens battery life and depends on strong Wi-Fi, so most communities still do better with logged monthly in-person checks.
It depends on the battery's known life. If a gauge shows plenty of charge remaining, you can keep it, but if its age or remaining life is unknown it is safer to replace it, since you cannot always tell how long the device ran during an emergency.
Explore Florida Association News (FAN) for timely legal updates, useful resources, and expert insights for Florida community associations.
Ashley Dietz is the VP of Marketing at Campbell Property Management and has led the company’s educational and marketing initiatives since 2013. A Florida Atlantic University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in communications, Ashley specializes in community association education, digital outreach, and industry engagement for Florida HOAs and condominiums.