Fire drills are standard practice in almost every workplace. Cardiac emergency drills are far less common — despite sudden cardiac arrest being a genuine, if less frequent, workplace risk. A well-structured AED drill can reveal gaps that no amount of classroom training will surface.
Start With a Realistic Scenario
Choose a location and time that reflects a genuine possibility — not always the same conference room during a slow afternoon. Varying the scenario tests whether staff can locate and retrieve the nearest AED under realistic, sometimes inconvenient, conditions.
Time the Full Response
Track the complete timeline: from simulated collapse, to someone recognizing the emergency, to the AED being retrieved and switched on. This end-to-end timing is far more revealing than testing any single step in isolation.
Test More Than One Employee
Relying on a single "designated" responder creates a single point of failure if that person is unavailable or the emergency happens elsewhere in the building. Rotate who participates so confidence spreads across the wider team.
Debrief Honestly
After the drill, walk through what worked and what didn't — Was the AED easy to find? Was the cabinet accessible? Did anyone hesitate, and why? Honest debriefs are where the real value of a drill comes from.
Repeat Regularly
A single drill provides a useful baseline, but repeating drills two to four times a year keeps skills and location-awareness fresh across your team.
We Can Help You Run One
Our AED Training team can help design and facilitate a realistic drill tailored to your workplace layout across Dubai and the UAE.
Test Your Team's Readiness Properly
Heart First Response supplies, installs, maintains and trains organizations on AEDs across Dubai, United Arab Emirates and the wider Gulf region. Call us on +971 52 1746500 or visit heartfirstaed.com to get started.
