According to the maintenance audit of the company Matecir Defibril, to which franceinfo had access, almost a third of the 500,000 defibrillators installed across the country are… out of service.
Present in train stations, administrative buildings and even schools, cardiac defibrillators are installed in many public places in France and have the difficult task of helping to save lives. They still need to work… According to projections from the company Matecir Defibril, which inspected no fewer than 6,021 automated external defibrillators (AEDs) between 2021 and 2023, nearly a third of the approximately 500,000 made available of the French are simply out of service, reveals franceinfoWednesday May 29, after having access to the maintenance audit.
A figure that sends shivers down your spine and which could be explained in part by the fact that establishments which receive the public and are obliged to have one available are often unaware that they must, after having acquired, regularly ensure their proper functioning. Among other things, the batteries in the battery need to be changed from time to time, as do the electrodes.
As part of the fight against sudden death, public authorities have mobilized since 2007 to deploy a large number of defibrillators across the country. But today, faced with such an observation, some are sounding the alarm. The ARLoD association, which identifies and locates defibrillators, calls in particular for the creation of a law which would require operators to ensure that AEDs work, as is already the case for fire extinguishers. Every year, between 40,000 and 50,000 people die suddenly in France, according to the Ministry of Health.