Defibrillators: where the law requires one and requires knowing how to use it

It is the law ordering defibrillators installed at public facilities and at places where services are provided to the public in Puerto Rico. The law defines "defibrillation" as the emergency treatment for managing ventricular fibrillation or cardiac arrest, and "automated external defibrillator" as the portable device used to electrically stimulate a heart that is fibrillating, consisting of a two-electrode mechanism applied directly to the person’s chest, between which a specially characterized electric current is passed that, applied as soon as possible after cardiac arrest, allows with a high probability the restoration of the lost normal heart rhythm.

The law covers anyone who suffers a cardiovascular emergency at the places it lists. Those bound are every public agency, corporation or instrumentality and the municipalities, as well as establishments whose operators are public or private entities running a facility under a contract with the government of Puerto Rico or a municipality.

• That it be a public or municipal agency, corporation or instrumentality facility with an activity or service to the public with more than 200 people present.Verified against the official source
• Or that it be an establishment operated by a public or private entity under a contract with the government or a municipality, per the law’s capacity thresholds.Verified against the official source

Information pending verification.

1. 1

   Step 1: Know the general threshold: 200 people

   Every public agency, corporation or instrumentality and the municipalities are required to have a defibrillator on their premises at all times while an activity is being held, or while services are being provided to the public, with more than two hundred (200) people present. That is the baseline standard and it applies to the facility as such, not just to large venues.

2. 2

   Step 2: Count the minimums by type of place

   Article 3(3) sets the minimums by the venue’s capacity for the flow or presence of people: land, sea and air transport terminals with capacity for more than one thousand (1,000) people shall have a minimum of two (2) automated external defibrillators; public stadiums and sports centers with capacity for more than one thousand (1,000) people, a minimum of one (1); public entertainment and show venues with capacity for more than five hundred (500) people, a minimum of one (1); and government, instrumentality or municipal conference, seminar or exhibition halls with capacity for more than five hundred (500) people, a minimum of one (1).

3. 3

   Step 3: Remember equipment without training does not comply

   The law imposes two duties, not one. Beyond the equipment, state and municipal authorities and the lessees of the establishments defined in Article 3(3) are responsible for providing adequate training to their employees so they can operate that equipment. A defibrillator hanging on a wall that nobody knows how to use does not satisfy the law.

4. 4

   Step 4: In an emergency, its use is mandatory

   Article 4 says it without qualification: to enable the right of public access to defibrillation, in cases of cardiovascular emergency the immediate use of the automated external defibrillator is mandatory at the places this Act provides. It is not decorative equipment or discretionary to use.

5. 5

   Step 5: Know who decides placement and who regulates

   The Secretary of Health is empowered to adopt the necessary regulation and to determine by regulation which public agencies, corporations and instrumentalities must have an automated defibrillator and where it goes. For municipalities, they determine by regulation the places and occasions where one is needed, according to each one’s particular needs. The Secretary of Health was also empowered to impose penalties for non-compliance with the regulation.

The Department of Health regulates and may impose penalties for non-compliance; municipalities regulate placement and occasions within their jurisdiction. To carry out the law’s purposes, the Secretary of Health, agency and instrumentality heads and the municipalities were authorized to request, receive, match and administer state, federal and municipal funds, and to receive donations of public or private funds.

• Believing it applies to any private business: the law binds the public sector and establishments operated under contract with the government or a municipality.
• Thinking having the equipment is enough: the law also requires training employees to operate it.
• Using the 200-person threshold for every case: the Article 3(3) establishments have their own capacity minimums.
• Forgetting large terminals need two: over 1,000 capacity, a minimum of two defibrillators.
• Believing its use is optional in an emergency: the law makes it mandatory in cardiovascular emergencies.
• Looking for the exact placement in the law: it is set by the Health Department’s or the municipal regulation.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Salud de Puerto Rico

  Salud

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov