I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2528

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 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 Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Access to Emer5 gency Devices Act’’ or the ‘‘Rural AED Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress makes the following findings:

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

4 in the United States.

5 (2) The American Heart Association estimates

6 that 250,000 Americans die from sudden cardiac ar7 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 ini12 tially in ventricular fibrillation, and the only treat13 ment for ventricular fibrillation is defibrillation,

14 prompt access to defibrillation to return the heart to

15 normal rhythm is essential.

16 (5) Lifesaving technology, the automated exter17 nal defibrillator, has been developed to allow trained

18 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 com23 munities, particularly smaller and rural commu24 nities, lack sufficient numbers of automated external

25 defibrillators to respond to cardiac arrest in a timely

26 manner.
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1 (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

6 greater public access to automated external

7 defibrillators in communities across the United

8 States.

9 SEC. 3. GRANTS.

10 (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 en21 tities such as community training facilities, local

22 emergency responders, fire and rescue departments,

23 police, community hospitals, and local non-profit en24 tities and for-profit entities concerned about cardiac

25 arrest survival rates;
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1 (2) evaluates the local community emergency

2 response times to assess whether they meet the

3 standards established by national public health orga4 nizations such as the American Heart Association

5 and the American Red Cross; and

6 (3) submits to the Secretary of Health and

7 Human Services an application at such time, in such

8 manner, and containing such information as the Sec9 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,

14 by the Food and Drug Administration; and

15 (2) to provide defibrillator and basic life sup16 port training in automated external defibrillator

17 usage through the American Heart Association, the

18 American Red Cross, or other nationally recognized

19 training courses.

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

21 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and

22 Human Services shall prepare and submit to the appro23 priate committees of Congress a report containing data

24 relating to whether the increased availability of

25 defibrillators has affected survival rates in the commu-
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1 nities in which grantees under this section operated. The

2 procedures under which the Secretary obtains data and

3 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: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.