Member
Given that I've never seen an Automatic External Defibrillator in a church building, I assume it's not an approved item. Is anyone aware if there is a policy for or against having them?
Thanks!
Thanks!
AED
Community Moderators
Your stake Physical Facilities Representative (PFR), a high councilor, may know. If not, he will be able to contact the FM Group.
Community Administrator
If there was, I'd expect it to be in the [url=ttps://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/e ... f?lang=eng]Facilities Management Guidelines[/url]. Yet, a quick search for the words "AED" and "defibrillator" turned up nothing.
A quick search for AED laws did turn up some "baggage" - a requirement that a "employee" be trained. Plus a maintenance program to make sure they're operational, etc. See this page. One thing I don't see is any legal requirement for a church to have one. Balance that against how many people have suffered a heart problem at church. (I personally don't know of any incidents.) I suspect the answer is no one has seen a need for them. At least not on a church-wide basis.
A quick search for AED laws did turn up some "baggage" - a requirement that a "employee" be trained. Plus a maintenance program to make sure they're operational, etc. See this page. One thing I don't see is any legal requirement for a church to have one. Balance that against how many people have suffered a heart problem at church. (I personally don't know of any incidents.) I suspect the answer is no one has seen a need for them. At least not on a church-wide basis.
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Senior Member
I have many years of Safety experience. Many life saving devices are not required by law. However, if an entity chooses to install them, they do come with legal requirements for maintenance, periodic function checks, training, etc.
You can imagine what could happen if an AED installed in a ward building was needed but was not functional because the manufacture's required maintenance was not followed. I am not an attorney, but it does not take one to see that failure to follow required maintenance on a lifesaving device could open the church up to litigation. Investigation of the legal requirements stemming from installation of such a device should occur (and how those requirements will be met) and caution is advised.
You can imagine what could happen if an AED installed in a ward building was needed but was not functional because the manufacture's required maintenance was not followed. I am not an attorney, but it does not take one to see that failure to follow required maintenance on a lifesaving device could open the church up to litigation. Investigation of the legal requirements stemming from installation of such a device should occur (and how those requirements will be met) and caution is advised.
New Member
AED’s are very easy to use and very common now. I wonder about liability of not providing them.
Community Administrator
I'm sure the church's legal department would keep in eye on that. But it seems unlikely that there would be a liability for not having something that the law doesn't require. There's a lot more to them than just buying them and mounting them to the wall.mcmullindb wrote:AED’s are very easy to use and very common now. I wonder about liability of not providing them.
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New Member
Very little is required to maintain or use an AED. It seems like this is a gaping hole in caring for people in need. Surely we don't have fire extinguishers in our buildings just because there is a fire code.
New Member
Having an AED in church buildings could really help save lives during emergencies. Even if it's not required by law, it's a good idea to have one and make sure people are trained to use it.