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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
InPost, Poland’s largest private delivery firm, is installing portable defibrillators on some of its parcel lockers as part of a campaign to help reduce deaths from cardiac arrests.
The initiative, which is being led by Rescue Centre (Centrum Ratownictwa), a first-aid and rescue training organisation, will initially see 100 automated external defibrillators (AEDs) mounted on parcel lockers in areas where public access to such devices is lacking.
Each year, around 40,000 cases of sudden cardiac arrest occur in Poland, according to the European Resuscitation Council. Around 80% of those occur outside of medical facilities, and in only around 5-7% of those cases does the person survive.
However, intervention with an AED – which delivers a dose of electricity to help restart the heart – within 3-5 minutes can raise survival odds by between 50% and 70%, reports the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
But some parts of Poland have no local access to AEDs. In other places, access is not available around the clock – which is particularly problematic given that over 60% of cardiac arrests occur at night and on weekends – or may be poorly maintained or difficult to locate.
“Sudden cardiac arrest is a race against time, and in Poland we too often lose this race due to a lack of reliable equipment,” Wojciech Urban, head of the Rescue Centre, told PAP. “Simply having an AED defibrillator is not enough – the key is ensuring that the device is functional and available 24/7.”
To help address those challenges, his organisation and InPost plan to install 100 AEDs in areas that currently lack accessible defibrillators. The devices will be attached to InPost’s existing parcel lockers and will be monitored to ensure they are in working condition.
The first two units have already been installed in Warsaw’s Sielce neighbourhood and Kraków’s Podgórze district. As further AEDs are installed, they will be marked on an interactive map.
While InPost is funding the initiative itself, it has also offered customers the opportunity to pay for even more AEDs to be installed by using loyalty points they have earned in the firm’s mobile app. Customers can also propose locations for future installations.
Rescue Centre and InPost also hope that the programme can raise awareness of defibrillators more broadly, pointing to polling showing that 72% of people in Poland are not even aware of what AEDs are.
InPost was a pioneer of automated parcel delivery lockers. It now operates more than 26,000 of them in Poland, as well as others through its growing operations in the UK, Spain, France and Portugal.
However, as well as its success, InPost has faced controversy. Last month, it was one of four major firms charged by Poland’s consumer protection authority with making misleading claims about their environmental policies in an effort to “greenwash” their reputations.
InPost, DHL, DPD and Allegro have been charged with greenwashing by Polish consumer authority UOKiK.
If substantiated, each allegation could result in a fine of up to 10% of the company’s annual turnover.https://t.co/V1ZQkV70F4
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) July 29, 2025
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Centrum Ratownictwa (press materials)
