- Industry guide · Restaurants and bars
Best AED for restaurants 2026: run by whoever is on shift.
- Updated · July 2026
- FDA-approved models only
- PMA verified
- Review methodology
- Direct answer
The best AED for most restaurants is the Philips HeartStart OnSite, $1,589 at 2026 US list: pull-handle simple for whichever manager is on shift, compact enough for the host stand. Loud rooms and multilingual kitchen teams should compare the video-screen Lifeline VIEW; franchise fleets, the IP56 HeartSine 350P.
- 🏆 Top 3 Picks
Which AED fits your floor plan?
⚡ Quantity planning
How many AEDs does your facility need?
The AHA program target is simple: a responder retrieves the AED and returns to the victim in about 3 minutes, proven with a stopwatch, not a formula. The AHA publishes no square-feet-per-AED coefficient, so treat every calculator output, ours included, as a planning estimate you validate with a timed walking drill on your actual floor plan.
Survival drops with every minute of delay before defibrillation, which is why placement beats brand choice in almost every deployment.
Find Your Perfect AED
5 questions about your environment, training, and budget. Matched to a specific model with the reasoning shown.
AED Quantity Calculator
Floors, detached buildings, and risk zones in, planning estimate out. Then validate with a walking drill.
AED Cost Calculator
Device, pads, batteries, and cabinet over a multi-year horizon, with 2026 pricing and visible math.
- Restaurant AED law
Are restaurants required to have AEDs?
All 50 states
No state singles out restaurants for a blanket AED requirement. The purchase case is the public-arrest math above[3], not a hidden statute.
NY PHL Art. 30 pattern
Public-assembly provisions like New York's catch venues with 1,000+ occupancy: banquet halls and event spaces can qualify, ordinary dining rooms do not.
City codes · brand standards
A few cities fold AEDs into assembly or licensing codes, and franchise agreements increasingly write them into brand safety standards. Check the contract and the local code, in that order.
Rescuer + business protection
All 50 states protect good-faith rescuers, and many extend protections to the business that deploys the AED[6]. Staff hesitation has no legal basis.
- Budget reality
What does a restaurant AED actually cost over 5 years?
| Cost line | Philips OnSite | Lifeline VIEW | HeartSine 350P |
|---|---|---|---|
| Device · 2026 US list | $1,589 | $2,024.95 | $1,411 |
| Pads over 5 yrs (est.) | ~$150 · 2x M5071A cartridge | ~$198 · 2x VIEW pads | ~$169 · 1x Pad-Pak (pads + battery, one cartridge) |
| Battery over 5 yrs (est.) | ~$89 · 1x M5070A (4-yr) | ~$159 · 1x DCF-2003 (4-yr) | |
| Cabinet + signage (est.) | ~$199 | ~$199 | ~$199 |
| 5-year total per unit (est.) | ~$1,970 | ~$2,250 | ~$1,660 |
Consumable and cabinet figures are typical 2026 US street pricing at authorized distributors and vary by package; device prices are 2026 US list. Browse all pads and batteries, run your venue in the Cost Calculator, and groups standardizing across 5+ locations should take a fleet quote instead of per-unit list.
- Free tool · 60 seconds · no email
Still between two models? Let the quiz decide.
- Weighted by the 4 features
- FDA-approved models only
- 2026 pricing shown
- Reasoning explained
- Program checklist
The GM's 10-point AED checklist
- Buyer questions
Restaurant AED questions, answered straight
Are restaurants required to have AEDs?
No state singles out restaurants. Real triggers: assembly-occupancy rules like New York’s 1,000+ provision for banquet-scale spaces[5], local codes, and franchise brand standards. The circulating “50-guest mandate” has no statute behind it. Verify via the 50-state tracker.
How many AEDs does a restaurant need?
One host-stand unit covers most single dining rooms if the farthest table, line, and patio pass the roughly 3-minute stopwatch drill[2]; multi-floor and banquet operations add a second (planning estimates). Start with the Quantity Calculator.
Choking or arrest: how do staff tell?
Choking guests are conscious and clutching the throat: back blows and thrusts, no AED. Arrest victims are unresponsive without normal breathing: 911, compressions, pads on[4]. The table above trains the split, and an unresolved choking collapse becomes an arrest the moment they go unresponsive.
Which AED works in a loud dining room?
The Lifeline VIEW: its color video screen shows every rescue step, immune to Friday-night noise and language barriers. Public arrests are the shockable kind, 60% versus 35% at home[3], so keeping the rescuer moving is everything.
What does it cost?
Per unit over 5 years with cabinet: roughly $1,660 (350P), $1,970 (OnSite), $2,250 (VIEW), estimates with visible math above. A 12-location group standardizing on the 350P runs about $20,000 over 5 years, fleet-quoted lower. Run yours in the Cost Calculator.
Where should it hang?
Host stand first, never the office or the kitchen wall: grease, heat, and locked doors all fail the drill. Large venues add bar-side or banquet-level units. New to the device class? Start with what an AED is and the buyer’s guide.
- Why public-access AEDs work
The evidence behind every claim on this page.
10,000
Workplace arrests yearly
OSHA's count across US workplaces
74%
Survival at 3 minutes
Public-access shocks within 3 min of collapse
60%
Shockable in public
Witnessed public arrests with VF/VT vs 35% at home
2-3x
Survival multiplier
Immediate CPR while the AED arrives
References · primary sources
- ClinicalAmerican Heart Association. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics, annual update. Circulation. heart.org statistics
- ProgramAmerican Heart Association. Implementing an AED Program, 2023 guide. cpr.heart.org AED guide (PDF)
- ClinicalWeisfeldt ML, et al. Ventricular tachyarrhythmias after cardiac arrest in public versus at home. NEJM. 2011;364:313-321. nejm.org
- ClinicalAmerican Heart Association. CPR Facts and Stats. cpr.heart.org facts
- StatuteNew York Public Health Law, Article 30: public-assembly AED provisions. nysenate.gov Article 30
- LegalCDC. Public Access Defibrillation State Law Fact Sheet. cdc.gov PAD fact sheet
- RegulatoryUS FDA. Automated External Defibrillators and Premarket Approval database. fda.gov AEDs
- •Match the AED to who will use it: most settings need a unit an untrained bystander can operate with clear voice prompts, like the Philips OnSite or ZOLL AED Plus.
- •Plan for a shock within about three minutes: that response-time goal drives how many units you need and where they go, more than floor area does.
- •Budget for the full life, and consider recertified: pads and battery add to the cost, and a recertified unit can cost well below new. Use our Find your perfect AED quiz or see best refurbished AEDs.