We’ve had a few enquiries following our story last week about village residents requesting an additional defibrillator so we thought we’d clarify operators’ obligations.
The law firm Russell Kennedy has prepared a paper for the Property Council which you can read HERE.
Their advice says there is no legal obligation for village operators to install a defibrillator but to do so will require understanding the obligations and risks.
For instance training of staff and adequate procedures. The report points out:
“Operators should consider whether to obtain consent from residents to use or not use the defibrillator. The operator may be liable if a defibrillator is used against a resident's express wishes”.
You can see it is not a straightforward issue.
