Your life in their hands - can you use a defibrilator?

I have seen the rollout of defibrilators all around our area - and I suspect the same throughout France. Ours is located outside the Mairie and to my knowledge, nobody has been trained in its use.
I assume the design is such that any layperson can run and grab it and use it without training - and without getting sued for assault - but wonder what is the understanding of others out there on the SFN ?

Regards

geoff

I did a very basic first aid course a couple of years ago and they showed us how to use one then. Very simple and the instructions are spoken to you telling you what to do - in French of course! Fantastic things.