II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1024 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants 

to eligible entities to develop and implement a comprehensive program 

to promote student access to defibrillation in public elementary schools 

and secondary schools. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 29, 2023 

Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Mr. SCHUMER) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to award grants to eligible entities to develop and implement a comprehensive program to promote student access to defibrillation in public elementary schools and 

secondary schools. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Access to AEDs Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) Heart disease is the leading cause of death 

2 in the United States. 

3 (2) Sudden cardiac arrest (referred to in this 

4 section as ‘‘SCA’’) is a life-threatening emergency 

5 that is caused by a malfunction in the heart’s elec6 trical system or structure, which is caused by an ab7 normality from birth or one that develops over time. 

8 (3) Studies show that 1 in 300 youth has an 

9 undetected heart condition that puts them at risk. 

10 (4) SCA is the leading cause of death for stu11 dent athletes. 

12 (5) Sports-related SCA account for 39 percent 

13 of SCAs among children 18 years old or younger. 

14 (6) In 2018, there were nearly 394,000 sudden 

15 cardiac arrests that occurred in the United States, 

16 with 9 out of 10 being fatal. Only 1 in 10 victims 

17 survive a sudden cardiac arrest. 

18 (7) An estimated 7,000 to 23,000 young people 

19 are stricken by SCA annually. 

20 (8) The American Heart Association estimates 

21 that 5 in 10 victims of SCA could survive if bystand22 ers gave CPR and used an AED immediately. 

23 (9) The chain of survival includes prompt noti24 fication of emergency services and early CPR, 

25 defibrillation, and advanced cardiac life support. 


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1 (10) Health education should include basic 

2 emergency lifesaving skills. Incorporating these life3 saving training programs into the health curriculum 

4 of public elementary and secondary schools will give 

5 children and youth these skills. 

6 SEC. 3. PROMOTING STUDENT ACCESS TO 

7 DEFIBRILLATION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award grants 

9 to eligible entities to develop and implement a comprehen10 sive program to promote student access to defibrillation 

11 in public elementary schools and secondary schools. 

12 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity receiving a 

13 grant under subsection (a) may use funds received 

14 through such grant to carry out any of the following activi15 ties: 

16 (1) Developing and providing comprehensive 

17 materials to establish AED and CPR programs in 

18 public elementary schools and secondary schools. 

19 (2) Providing support for CPR and AED train20 ing programs in such schools for students, staff, and 

21 related sports volunteers. 

22 (3) Providing support for developing a cardiac 

23 emergency response plan within such schools. 

24 (4) Purchasing AEDs that have been approved 

25 under section 515 of the Federal Food, Drug, and 


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1 Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 360e), cleared under sec2 tion 510(k) of such Act (21 U.S.C. 360(k)), or au3 thorized under section 513(f)(2) of such Act (21 

4 U.S.C. 360c(f)(2)). 

5 (5) Purchasing necessary AED batteries and 

6 performing necessary AED maintenance (such as by 

7 replacing AED pads) in accordance with the labeling 

8 of the AED involved. 

9 (6) Replacing old and outdated AED and CPR 

10 equipment, machinery, and educational materials. 

11 (7) Fostering new and existing community part12 nerships with and among local educational agencies, 

13 nonprofit organizations, public health organizations, 

14 emergency medical service providers, fire and police 

15 departments, and parent-teacher associations to pro16 mote the importance of defibrillation in such schools. 

17 (8) Aiding school athletic departments to screen 

18 student athletes for risk of sudden cardiac arrest, 

19 consistent with guidelines of the American Heart As20 sociation and the American College of Cardiology. 

21 (9) Further developing strategies to improve ac22 cess to AEDs in such schools. 

23 (c) ELIGIBILITY; APPLICATION.—To be eligible for a 

24 grant under subsection (a), an entity shall— 


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1 (1) be a local educational agency (including a 

2 public charter school operating as a local educational 

3 agency under State law), in consultation with a 

4 qualified health care entity; and 

5 (2) submit to the Secretary an application at 

6 such time, in such manner, and containing such in7 formation as the Secretary may reasonably require. 

8 (d) CLEARINGHOUSE.—Not later than 1 year after 

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es10 tablish a clearinghouse database— 

11 (1) to collect and make available information, 

12 including through voluntary reporting by local edu13 cational agencies, State educational agencies, and 

14 manufacturers, relating to student access to 

15 defibrillation in public elementary schools and sec16 ondary schools, including with respect to the costs of 

17 providing AEDs and CPR training; and 

18 (2) to gather information in a central location 

19 to facilitate research regarding sudden cardiac arrest 

20 in the pediatric population. 

21 (e) REPORTS.— 

22 (1) BY GRANTEE.—Not later than 4 years after 

23 receipt of a grant under this section, the recipient of 

24 the grant shall submit to the Secretary a report that 


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1 describes the activities carried out with funds re2 ceived through the grant. 

3 (2) BY SECRETARY.—Not later than one year 

4 after receiving the reports required by paragraph 

5 (1), the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 

6 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Sen7 ate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

8 and the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

9 of the House of Representatives a consolidated eval10 uation of the activities carried out pursuant to 

11 grants under this section. 

12 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

13 (1) the term ‘‘AED’’ means an automated ex14 ternal defibrillator; 

15 (2) the term ‘‘CPR’’ means cardiopulmonary 

16 resuscitation; 

17 (3) the terms ‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘local edu18 cational agency’’, and ‘‘secondary school’’ have the 

19 meanings given to such terms in section 8101 of the 

20 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

21 (20 U.S.C. 7801); 

22 (4) the term ‘‘qualified health care entity’’ 

23 means a health care entity that— 

24 (A) is— 

25 (i) a public entity; or 


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1 (ii) an organization that is described 

2 in section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue 

3 Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation 

4 under section 501(a) of such Code; 

5 (B) demonstrates an ability to develop, 

6 train, and implement a comprehensive program 

7 to promote student access to defibrillation in el8 ementary and secondary schools; and 

9 (C) is qualified in providing technical as10 sistance in AED and CPR training; and 

11 (5) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

12 of Health and Human Services. 

13 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

14 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 

15 $25,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2024 through 

16 2028. 

Æ 


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