Restart a Heart 2026: Can Your Team Find and Fetch Your AED?

Your workplace has a defibrillator. But if a colleague collapsed today, would your team know where it is, how to access it and who should collect it?

Restart a Heart 2026 is an opportunity to turn awareness into practical action. This October, review your emergency arrangements, check your equipment and help your team build confidence in responding to cardiac arrest.

ProTrainings Europe brings equipment and training together, supplying the HeartHero Elliot AED and offering CPR and HeartHero AED training for individuals, workplaces and community organisations.

When is Restart a Heart Day 2026?

Restart a Heart Day takes place on 16 October 2026, with activities throughout October. The campaign encourages more people to learn CPR and understand how to help someone experiencing a cardiac arrest.

Your organisation can use the occasion to review AED access, introduce staff to your emergency arrangements and organise CPR and defibrillator training.

Having a defibrillator is only part of being prepared

An automated external defibrillator, or AED, analyses the heart rhythm and provides instructions, advising or delivering a shock when appropriate. Anyone can use an AED: you do not need to wait for a trained first aider.

However, equipment can be difficult to retrieve if it is behind a locked door, poorly signposted or unfamiliar to staff. Access may also change during evening shifts, weekends or holiday closures.

Ask your team:

Where is our nearest AED?
Can we access it whenever people are on site?
Would a new starter or visitor recognise the signs?
Who checks that the device is ready for use?
Who would direct the ambulance crew to the casualty?

Discover the HeartHero Elliot AED from ProTrainings

If you are considering a workplace or community defibrillator, explore the HeartHero Elliot AED range from ProTrainings . As an authorised reseller, ProTrainings supplies HeartHero equipment, replacement pads and accessories.

Choosing an AED is also an opportunity to plan its location, storage, maintenance and emergency access. Our team can help you explore equipment options and training for the people who may need to respond.

For an outdoor installation, check the device manufacturer’s storage requirements and select a suitable cabinet. Browse our indoor and outdoor AED cabinets and ask for advice on your proposed installation.

Try a short workplace AED retrieval exercise

Choose a realistic location, such as reception, a meeting room or a warehouse aisle. Explain that this is a planned exercise, then discuss a scenario in which a colleague has collapsed and is not breathing normally.

Discuss the immediate response. Identify who would call 999, who would start CPR and who would fetch the AED when several people are available.
Check the route to the AED. Ask someone to walk to its location and confirm that it can be accessed. Look for locked doors, unclear signs or obstructions.
Identify potential delays. Consider distance, access permissions and uncertainty about where the equipment is kept.
Review ambulance access. Confirm the site address, appropriate entrance and arrangements for guiding emergency services to the casualty.
Agree improvements. Give each action an owner and a completion date, then repeat the exercise after changes.

Keep your live AED available throughout the exercise. Use a training AED and CPR manikin for hands-on practice. Do not open sealed electrode pads, attach a live AED to volunteers or call 999 as part of a drill.

Check that your AED is ready for use

Restart a Heart month is a useful reminder to review your equipment checks. Follow the instructions for your exact AED model and cabinet.

Readiness indicator: check that the device shows it is ready, according to its instructions.
Electrode pads: confirm that packaging is intact, sealed and within its expiry date.
Battery: check its status and replacement requirements.
Accessories: confirm that the preparation kit and any required child-use accessories are present.
Storage: ensure the cabinet and environment meet the manufacturer’s requirements.
Responsibility: appoint someone to record checks and arrange replacements, with a deputy to cover absence.

Investigate warning lights, fault messages or audible alerts promptly. Automatic self-checks do not replace checking consumables, storage conditions and access.

Find HeartHero Elliot replacement pads and accessories or browse our wider AED spares and accessories . Always choose replacements approved for your exact device.

Build confidence with CPR and HeartHero AED training

A workplace exercise can reveal gaps in your arrangements. Training gives people an opportunity to learn the response, ask questions and become familiar with the equipment.

The ProTrainings CPR and the HeartHero AED course covers CPR and the use of the HeartHero Elliot AED. Online learning and classroom options are available.

Already using a different defibrillator? Explore our CPR/BLS and AED Level 2 training or speak to our team about suitable training for your organisation.

What should you do in a real cardiac arrest?

If someone is unresponsive and not breathing normally, call 999 immediately, start CPR and use an AED as soon as it is available. Follow the emergency call handler’s instructions and the AED prompts.

If others are present, send someone to fetch the AED while CPR continues. Do not delay using an available AED because you have not attended training.

Your Restart a Heart workplace checklist

Make sure staff know where the AED is kept.
Check access across shifts, weekends and closures.
Inspect the AED, pads, battery and storage arrangements.
Review who will call for help, fetch equipment and guide responders.
Include new starters and temporary workers in emergency briefings.
Arrange CPR and AED training and address any gaps identified.

Make Restart a Heart 2026 count with ProTrainings

This October, take practical steps to make your AED easier to find, your emergency arrangements clearer and your team more confident.

Discover the HeartHero Elliot AED from ProTrainings and explore CPR and HeartHero AED training for your organisation.

For equipment or training advice, call ProTrainings Europe on 01206 805359 or email support@protrainings.uk.