Federal and state EMS grant programs
The federal programs that can fund AEDs are aimed at fire and EMS agencies and at rural public bodies. Most other public money comes through state EMS offices, and those programs open and close each year.
Statuses below are as of October 12, 2026.
- FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG): open to fire departments, non-affiliated EMS organizations and state fire training academies. The fiscal 2025 rules list BLS-level AEDs and monitor/defibrillators as eligible, but not pads and electrodes, which count as consumables. The cost share is 5, 10 or 15 percent depending on the population served. The fiscal 2025 window ran from May 19 to June 22, 2026, and FEMA announced the awards on September 30, 2026.
- USDA Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant: open year-round to public bodies, community nonprofits and federally recognized tribes in rural areas of 20,000 people or fewer. It funds public safety equipment and can cover up to 75 percent of a project in the smallest, lowest-income communities. AEDs aren’t named, so ask your state Rural Development office.
- HRSA’s Rural Access to Emergency Devices program is no longer offered: its last grant posting closed in April 2014, and it isn’t on HRSA’s current list of rural programs, although some websites still list it.
State programs vary. Indiana’s EMS AED grant gives up to $2,500 to certified non-transport EMS providers and is currently closed. Pennsylvania’s Fire Company and EMS Grant funds rescue equipment and is open until October 22, 2026, and Virginia’s Rescue Squad Assistance Fund funds EMS equipment, with deadlines on March 15 and September 15. Neither of those last two names AEDs, so ask the program office whether yours qualifies.
Hospital and health-system foundations
Hospital foundations often give AEDs themselves, rather than cash, to schools, nonprofits and public agencies in their own service area, usually once a year.
- St. Luke’s Health Care Foundation (UnityPoint Health, Cedar Rapids, Iowa): its Heart Saver Grant gives a ZOLL AED with a case, signage, pediatric pads and maintenance training to nonprofits, government bodies and schools in seven eastern Iowa counties. The 2026 cycle closed in May.
- Ephraim McDowell Health Care Foundation (Danville, Kentucky): one AED for each eligible county in its service area each year. The 2026 cycle closed on April 1.
- Wayne Memorial Hospital (Honesdale, Pennsylvania): switched its community grants to donating AEDs to local organizations. 2026 requests closed on August 15.
If your hospital isn’t on this list, ask its foundation directly: many run community grants that can include an AED, even without an AED program by name.
Community foundations
Community foundations fund AEDs through dedicated programs or through their general grant cycles, almost always for organizations in their own region.
- WovenWell Foundation AED+ (Mercer County, Pennsylvania): an AED, training, annual check-ins and replacement pads and batteries at no cost. All 2026 units are allocated, and it’s accepting requests for 2027.
- Medic One Foundation (Washington State): community AED grants, typically $1,500 to $10,000, covering up to 75 percent of the equipment cost, for 501(c)(3) organizations and government bodies placing AEDs in Washington.
- Copper Shores Community Health Foundation (Hancock, Michigan): distributed 30 AEDs to nonprofits and municipalities in 2026; that round is complete.
General grant cycles work too. In 2021 the Community Foundation of Grant County, Indiana, gave the Marion Fire Department $9,911 for new AEDs from a cycle that wasn’t AED-specific.
Manufacturer and distributor programs
We didn’t find a standing AED grant program from any major AED manufacturer. What exists are one-time donations, a survivor-directed donation and discounts, plus national nonprofits that donate AEDs.
- Stryker Forward Hearts: when a lay rescuer uses a qualifying HeartSine or LIFEPAK AED and the patient survives to hospital admission, Stryker donates a HeartSine AED to an organization the survivor chooses.
- ZOLL made a one-time donation with Simon’s Heart in 2025, to 32 youth organizations; there’s no open application.
- Avive’s AEDs for Youth program is a discount for schools and youth sports, not a grant.
- Hopey’s Heart Foundation: a national program that donates AEDs to 501(c)(3) organizations and government bodies, including public schools, reviewing applications every quarter.
- Peyton Walker Foundation: AED packages for nonprofits in nine central Pennsylvania counties, with a typical $350 cost share and priority for groups serving young people.
- Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation: funds equipment, AEDs included, for public safety and nonprofit organizations. Its quarterly portal fills fast; the next round opens January 14, 2027.
- Simon’s Heart GotAED is a crowdfunding platform with discounted AEDs for schools, teams and community groups.
AED grants for schools
School AED money most often comes from state education agencies and school-focused nonprofits, with local hospital foundations filling the gaps.
Two states funded school programs in 2026: the Kentucky Department of Education’s AED grant made a second round of awards to districts in April, and Minnesota gave 31 cardiac emergency response plan grants totaling $836,000 in March. Nationally, Hopey’s Heart accepts applications from public schools and districts.
Some help isn’t money. Project ADAM offers free Heart Safe Schools resources, such as plan templates and drill checklists, though it doesn’t fund AEDs. Our cardiac emergency response plan template is free too, and AED program management for schools covers the rest of a school program.
AED grants for churches
Churches can apply to many of the community programs that fund nonprofits, especially programs run by local EMS agencies and foundations.
Medstar Ambulance’s Shock and Save program in Michigan offers AED mini-grants and free CPR and AED training to churches, schools, nonprofits and civic groups in its nine-county service area. The WovenWell Foundation in Mercer County, Pennsylvania lists churches among the organizations its AED program has served. Elsewhere, ask your local hospital foundation, your community foundation and your EMS agency: churches qualify for many of the programs on this page. See also AED program management for churches.
AED grants for nonprofits
Nonprofits have the most options, because most foundation and nonprofit AED programs are open to 501(c)(3) organizations.
National: the Hopey’s Heart Foundation and the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation. Regional: the Medic One Foundation in Washington, the Peyton Walker Foundation in central Pennsylvania, the WovenWell Foundation in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, and the hospital foundations above. Have your IRS determination letter ready, along with a quote for the AED and a plan for placing it, training people and keeping it maintained.
AED grants for law enforcement
Police AED funding has come mostly from foundations and state programs. The federal Byrne JAG grant allows equipment purchases but doesn’t name AEDs.
- Helmsley Charitable Trust First Responder AED Initiative: more than $60 million for nearly 25,000 AEDs for law enforcement in Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming, through state partners rather than an open application. In North Dakota alone, more than 1,700 AEDs went to law enforcement agencies.
- Massachusetts AED grant (fiscal 2024): up to $2,500 for an AED for an emergency response vehicle, awarded to 80 recipients in 2024, including many police departments. The program isn’t active now.
- Edward Byrne Memorial JAG: allows equipment, but doesn’t name AEDs; the fiscal 2026 deadlines have passed.
The Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation also funds equipment for police departments.
AED grants for small businesses
We found no dedicated AED grant for small businesses. The closest options are local: WovenWell’s AED+ program in Mercer County, Pennsylvania lists small businesses among its recipients, and Stryker’s Forward Hearts donation goes to an organization the survivor chooses.
For most small businesses, an AED is a budget line rather than a grant: the device, its pads and battery replacements, training, and the time to inspect it each month. Plan for all of them up front. Our AED maintenance guide covers the ongoing costs, and keeping the records in AED Log costs $114 a year for one AED.
What a strong application includes
A strong AED grant application shows the need, the plan to place the AED and train people, and how you’ll keep it ready for years, because funders want their AED to stay in service long after the check clears.
- The need: who the AED will serve, how many people pass through, and how far you are from help.
- Placement: where it will go and why, using the AED placement guidelines.
- Training: who will be trained in CPR and AED use, and how you’ll keep their certifications current.
- Maintenance and inspection: monthly checks, and a budget to replace pads and batteries before they expire.
- Medical direction and EMS registration, where your state requires them.
- Records: how you’ll document inspections and any use. Some funders ask for it outright: Medstar requires an AED acceptance agreement and annual training, and WovenWell makes annual check-ins.
AED Log doesn’t write grant applications or plans, and it doesn’t fund AEDs. But it can be the maintenance and inspection plan you describe: scheduled monthly checks, alerts before pads and batteries expire, and inspection records you can share with the funder.
AED grants FAQ
Is there a federal AED grant?
Not a general one. HRSA's rural AED grant was last offered in 2014. Fire departments and EMS agencies can apply to FEMA's Assistance to Firefighters Grant, which lists AEDs as eligible, and rural public bodies can ask USDA's Community Facilities program.
Where can schools find AED grants?
Start with your state education agency, your local hospital and community foundations, and national donors such as the Hopey's Heart Foundation, which accepts public schools. Kentucky and Minnesota both funded school programs in 2026.
Can churches get AED grants?
Yes, from community programs that fund nonprofits. Medstar Ambulance in Michigan, for example, offers AED mini-grants to churches in its service area. Ask your local hospital foundation, community foundation and EMS agency too.
Do AED grants pay for pads and batteries?
Often not. FEMA's Assistance to Firefighters Grant, for example, treats defibrillator pads as ineligible consumables. A few programs, such as WovenWell's in Pennsylvania, include replacement pads and batteries, so plan to budget for them.
Does AED Log offer AED grants?
No. AED Log doesn't fund AEDs or run a grant program. Our AED grants guide lists funders you can apply to, and AED Log can keep the inspection and maintenance records a grant usually asks for.