Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest minutes: facility walk-time

Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) is a minutes problem. For a facilities team, that makes response time an operational design question: who recognises the emergency, who calls 995, who starts CPR, and how long does it take another person to bring the nearest Automated External Defibrillator (AED)?

This article is planning education for Facilities, Health, Safety and Environment (HSE), and Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) leads. It is not medical advice and does not attribute survival or clinical outcomes to CPRAIDR®.

Use public guidance as planning context

American Heart Association (AHA) public education emphasises early CPR after cardiac arrest. European Resuscitation Council (ERC) guidelines frame early recognition, early CPR, and early defibrillation as linked steps in the chain of survival.

Map who starts CPR

A plan should name the person or role expected to begin CPR in each operating zone. Avoid relying on a generic instruction to “get help.” In a hotel, warehouse, club, mall, or office tower, the nearest trained responder may be on another floor or behind an access-controlled door.

1. Identify high-occupancy staff and visitor zones.
2. Assign the role that calls 995 and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).
3. Assign the role that starts CPR at the incident location.
4. Assign a separate person to fetch the nearest Automated External Defibrillator (AED).
5. Assign someone to meet responders at the correct entrance, lift, or loading point.

Measure Automated External Defibrillator (AED) fetch walk-time

Mark every Automated External Defibrillator (AED) cabinet on the facility plan, then walk the real route from staff zones, back-of-house corridors, kitchens, plant rooms, loading areas, and upper floors. Include lift waits, locked doors, security access, and the return journey.

Record the round-trip time rather than estimating it from a floor plan. If the plan depends on one lobby cabinet, test whether a second person can retrieve it while CPR begins in-zone. The exercise should expose access and role gaps without making a clinical-outcome promise.

A simple facility walk-time drill

1. Choose one realistic incident point in each zone.
2. Start a timer when the scenario is announced.
3. Confirm who begins CPR and who calls 995.
4. Time the complete Automated External Defibrillator (AED) retrieval route.
5. Note access delays and update the zone response card.
6. Repeat after staffing, floor layout, or cabinet placement changes.

Claim-safe note — CPRAIDR®

CPRAID is the Singapore reseller of CPRAIDR® from VitalSigns Innovation AB (Sweden). CPRAIDR® is a dual-use CPR assistant for short staff practice and real-time compression guidance in an emergency. It complements Automated External Defibrillator (AED) programmes; it does not replace defibrillation. VitalSigns states it can be used alongside a defibrillator without interfering. Intended for adult patients 18+. Never attribute survival or clinical outcomes to CPRAIDR®.

Related planning pages: wall-mount CPR aid · workplace CPR readiness · Automated External Defibrillator (AED) + CPRAIDR®