They could mean the difference between life and death, so are defibrillators near you and should there be more?
This week's Curious Canberra question comes from Angelo of Deakin, who is semi-retired.
Several years ago, Angelo saw a man collapse while he was out walking with a friend.
Quickly realising something was wrong, he alerted staff at a nearby club who called an ambulance.
The man died and Angelo believes the outcome could've been different if CPR had been administered and a defibrillator was available.
It made him wonder about the availability of defibrillators across the city.
He reached out to Curious Canberra to find out more, asking:
"How is the location advertised? Are licensed clubs, hotels, cinemas and other venues of high patronage mandated to carry a defibrillator?"
Tracking down the exact location of some of the city's defibrillators was tricky but there are shortcuts to finding them.
The fatal facts
Dr Kym Schmid is the Community Education Supervisor at St John Ambulance ACT.
"The ones that people would be using out in Canberra in the public would be the AEDs, which stands for automated external defibrillator," she said.
Kym explained that defibrillators can be used when people are unconscious and not breathing properly, which can indicate a cardiac arrest.
"At this stage, their heart may not be working properly," she said.
"It [the defibrillator] helps restore a normal heart rhythm... it helps the body restart the heart in an ideal situation."
According to Kym, CPR and defibrillation should be administered as soon as possible, as the rate of survival drops by 10 per cent for every minute delayed.
"In Australia... if you have a cardiac arrest, your chance of survival is only 9-10 per cent," she said.
"In Seattle... where they have a lot of public access defibrillators and community training and education... your chance of survival can be as high as 64 per cent."
The CPR Seattle blog notes that AEDs in Seattle must be registered with the King County Emergency Medical Services.
There have also been scavenger hunts to locate them around the city, and more recently an app developed with the Seattle Fire Department has mapped the city's AEDs.
Finding Canberra's defibrillators
Many defibrillators are purchased through St John Ambulance, and according to their map, there are around 35 registered AEDs in the territory.
It's difficult to determine the exact number and location of AEDs as registering them is optional.
Kym says the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) are looking at building a map that captures all AEDs, regardless of where they're bought.
Still, Kym says public defibrillators can be easy to locate.
"Once you realise that they're around... you begin to notice them," she said.
"Most of the time it'll be where you can see them, where people gather."
She recommends looking out for them at swimming pools, food courts, and staffed locations such as a concierge or security desk.
Aside from where defibrillators are located, Angelo asked us to find out whether anyone was required to carry one.
There is no mandatory legislation requiring workplaces or venues to have an AED in the ACT, according to information provided by Access Canberra.
What is required is first aid equipment, and someone who is trained to administer it.
In addition to this, the Work Health and Safety (First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice) 2015 advises that an AED is useful but leaves it up to business owners to decide whether to purchase and install one.
A significant investment
The Canberra Liberals believe there should be more publicly available defibrillators, and pledged to fund 24 new AEDs as part of their 2016 election campaign.
It's something our questioner Angelo remembered and asked us to follow up.
Alistair Coe, ACT Opposition Leader, says the proposal still stands.
"We think there is a need for an information campaign to let people know that the defibrillators are accessible, and that there should be more of them around town," he said
"24 [new defibrillators] should just be the beginning, and I hope that the government takes it on board and rolls out many more," he said.
The ACT Government were contacted for comment.
Kym from St John Ambulance said the cost of an AED can be prohibitive for some.
"A defibrillator would be around $2400, so it's quite an investment," she said.
Powered by long-life batteries, AEDs are designed to be portable but that also puts them at risk.
"Some people are scared that someone's just going to walk away with that investment," Kym said.
But Phillip Coulton, Secretary for the ACT Veterans Cycling Club, says it's been a worthwhile purchase.
"We cycle in remote areas... and we're not always close to emergency services," he said.
"It's [the defibrillator] always in our van... we also have a trained first aider that we employ for particular events we have, so we cover it both ways."
He said a defibrillator in Stromlo Park, near the Criterium Circuit, had helped save the life of a cyclist after a recent race.
"He'd had a great time [and had] come up into the control room at Stromlo Forest Park, and he passed out on us," Phillip said.
"Immediately the guys that were there knew what do, they grabbed the defibrillator, used it and they were able to resuscitate him and the ambulance was called," he said.
Confidence matters
But even if a defibrillator is on hand, there's no guarantee it'll be used.
Kym says there's a lot of fear surrounding the devices but believes there needn't be.
"You don't need a lot of knowledge to use a defibrillator because they talk to you… they tell you exactly what to do," she said.
"The important thing is to have the confidence to go get the defibrillator, make sure triple-0 is called, open it and follow the instructions."
While Angelo was appreciative of the answers we found, he's still hoping that more can be done.
"Someone's got to be accountable... for what is available for a life or death situation," he said.
Who asked the question?
Angelo has lived in Canberra since 1964 and thinks the city is still one the nation's best kept secrets, with its city and county lifestyle. He enjoys walking his kelpie and attending sheepdog training classes in Bungendore.