I

106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION

S. 2528

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESOCTOBER 11, 2000
Referred to the Committee on Commerce

AN ACT
To provide funds for the purchase of automatic external
defibrillators and the training of individuals in advanced
cardiac life support.
1

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
34SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Access to Emer-

5 gency Devices Act’’ or the ‘‘Rural AED Act’’.

21234SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings:(1) Heart disease is the leading cause of deathin the United States.

5(2) The American Heart Association estimates

6

that 250,000 Americans die from sudden cardiac ar-

7

rest each year.

8(3) A cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival

9

drops 10 percent for every minute that passes before

10

his or her heart is returned to normal rhythm.

11(4) Because most cardiac arrest victims are ini-

12

tially in ventricular fibrillation, and the only treat-13

ment for ventricular fibrillation is defibrillation,

14

prompt access to defibrillation to return the heart to15

normal rhythm is essential.

16(5) Lifesaving technology, the automated exter-

17

nal defibrillator, has been developed to allow trained18

lay rescuers to respond to cardiac arrest by using

19

this simple device to shock the heart into normal

20

rhythm.

21(6) Those people who are likely to be first on

22

the scene of a cardiac arrest situation in many com-23

munities, particularly smaller and rural commu-

24

nities, lack sufficient numbers of automated external

25defibrillators to respond to cardiac arrest in a timely

26manner.
S 2528 RFH

31(7) The American Heart Association estimates

2

that more than 50,000 deaths could be prevented

3

each year if defibrillators were more widely available

4

to designated responders.

5(8) Legislation should be enacted to encourage

6greater

7

defibrillators in communities across the United

8States.

9SEC. 3. GRANTS.

10publicaccesstoautomatedexternal(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and

11 Human Services, acting through the Rural Health Out12 reach Office of the Health Resources and Services Admin13 istration, shall award grants to community partnerships
14 that meet the requirements of subsection (b) to enable
15 such partnerships to purchase equipment and provide
16 training as provided for in subsection (c).
17(b) COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS.—A community

18 partnership meets the requirements of this subsection if
19 such partnership—
20(1) is composed of local emergency response en-21

tities such as community training facilities, local

22

emergency responders, fire and rescue departments,

23

police, community hospitals, and local non-profit en-

24

tities and for-profit entities concerned about cardiac

25arrest survival rates;

S 2528 RFH

41(2) evaluates the local community emergency

2

response times to assess whether they meet the3standards established by national public health orga-

4nizations such as the American Heart Association5and the American Red Cross; and6(3) submits to the Secretary of Health and7

Human Services an application at such time, in such8manner, and containing such information as the Sec-9

retary may require.

10(c) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts provided under a

11 grant under this section shall be used—
12(1) to purchase automatic external defibrillators

13

that have been approved, or cleared for marketing,

14by the Food and Drug Administration; and15(2) to provide defibrillator and basic life sup-16

port training in automated external defibrillator

17

usage through the American Heart Association, the18

American Red Cross, or other nationally recognized19

training courses.

20(d) REPORT.—Not later than 4 years after the date

21 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and22 Human Services shall prepare and submit to the appro23 priate committees of Congress a report containing data
24 relating

towhether

theincreased

availabilityof25 defibrillators has affected survival rates in the commu-S 2528 RFH

51 nities in which grantees under this section operated. The
2 procedures under which the Secretary obtains data and3 prepares the report under this subsection shall not impose
4 an undue burden on program participants under this sec5 tion.
6(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

7 authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000 for fiscal years
8 2001 through 2003 to carry out this section.
Passed the Senate October 10 (legislative day, September 22), 2000.
Attest:S 2528 RFH

GARY SISCO,
Secretary.