Free Cardiac Emergency Response Plan Template (PDF + Printable)

What the cardiac emergency response plan covers

A cardiac emergency response plan (CERP) says who responds to a sudden cardiac arrest, what each person does, where the AEDs are and how they’re kept ready, and how the plan is practiced and reviewed. This template follows the American Heart Association’s core elements.

A workplace may also need a broader emergency action plan for fires and evacuations under OSHA’s 29 CFR 1910.38; our free emergency action plan template covers that, and this plan handles the cardiac emergency in detail.

The AHA’s cardiac emergency response plan checklist for schools lists the minimum steps a plan should include. In plain words:

1. Build the plan and the team: write the plan and name a cardiac emergency response team.
2. Share it and connect it to local responders: distribute it, post it, and tie it to local EMS, fire and police.
3. Place and maintain AEDs on a routine schedule, as you would fire extinguishers.
4. Keep staff trained in first aid, CPR and AED use.
5. Teach CPR widely, including Hands-Only CPR.
6. Drill the plan, like fire and lockdown drills.
7. Activate the team when a cardiac arrest happens.
8. Review the plan every year, and debrief right after any event.

The template has a section for each, apart from teaching CPR to everyone, which is a training program of its own.

The cardiac emergency response plan template

The PDF has eight sections over three pages. You fill them in by hand, share the finished plan, and keep it with your AED records.

1. The response team: the plan coordinator, the on-site lead, and who calls 911, brings the AED, starts CPR and meets EMS, each with a backup.
2. When someone collapses: six steps, from recognizing a cardiac arrest to handing over to EMS.
3. AED locations and upkeep: each AED’s exact location, model, serial number and pad and battery dates.
4. Training: each responder’s course and card expiration date.
5. Sharing the plan and working with EMS: who has the plan, where it’s posted, and when EMS was told where your AEDs are.
6. Drills: date, scenario and how long it took to get an AED to the scene.
7. After a cardiac emergency: replacing pads, restocking, reporting the use where required, and debriefing.
8. Yearly review: who reviewed it, what changed, and sign-off.

Some states require an AED program to be written down. The AED law data in AED Log lists 12 states that require written program documentation and 40 that require a school cardiac emergency response plan.

Adapting the plan for schools and Desha’s Law

Schools need a plan that covers every building and every school-sponsored event, including athletics. In New York, Desha’s Law makes a cardiac emergency response plan part of each district-wide school safety plan.

Desha’s Law was signed on July 24, 2025, as Chapter 189 of the Laws of 2025, and its main provisions took effect on January 20, 2026. Under it, a district’s plan has to cover:

• the people who respond to a cardiac arrest anywhere on school grounds or at school-sponsored events, including all athletics;
• procedures for each venue of athletic practices and events;
• nationally recognized, evidence-based core elements, such as the American Heart Association’s; and
• how the plan fits with community EMS.

It also requires AEDs in each instructional facility to be clearly marked, accessible and maintained. To adapt this template for a school, fill in one copy per building, add a row to the response team for each athletic venue, and list the coaches and athletic trainers in the training table. See Desha’s Law and AED management for schools.