I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2370 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 29, 2023 

Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK (for herself, Mr. POSEY, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mr. 

CARTER of Louisiana, Ms. NORTON, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. CASTOR of 

Florida, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Ms. WILD, 

Mr. CARSON, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. SOTO, Mr. EVANS, Mr. COSTA, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. LANDSMAN, 

Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. ALLRED, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. 

BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. MFUME, Ms. 

KAMLAGER-DOVE, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. 

SEWELL, Mr. LIEU, Ms. STRICKLAND, Ms. CHU, Ms. TOKUDA, Ms. LEE

of California, Ms. SALAZAR, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. 

BROWN, Mr. THANEDAR, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Ms. CROCKETT, Mr. 

ESPAILLAT, Ms. CLARKE of New York, and Mr. BARR) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

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 acVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:05 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2370.IH H2370

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cess 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: 

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

8 in the United States. 

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

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

11 that is caused by a malfunction in the heart’s elec12 trical system or structure, which is caused by an ab13 normality from birth or one that develops over time. 

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

15 undetected heart condition that puts them at risk. 

16 (4) SCA is the leading cause of death for stu17 dent athletes. 

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

19 of SCAs among children 18 years old or younger. 

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

21 cardiac arrests that occurred in the United States, 

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

23 survive a sudden cardiac arrest. 


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

2 are stricken by SCA annually. 

3 (8) The American Heart Association estimates 

4 that 5 in 10 victims of SCA could survive if bystand5 ers gave CPR and used an AED immediately. 

6 (9) The chain of survival includes prompt noti7 fication of emergency services and early CPR, 

8 defibrillation, and advanced cardiac life support. 

9 (10) Health education should include basic 

10 emergency lifesaving skills. Incorporating these life11 saving training programs into the health curriculum 

12 of public elementary and secondary schools will give 

13 children and youth these skills. 

14 SEC. 3. PROMOTING STUDENT ACCESS TO 

15 DEFIBRILLATION. 

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

17 to eligible entities to develop and implement a comprehen18 sive program to promote student access to defibrillation 

19 in public elementary schools and secondary schools. 

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

21 grant under subsection (a) may use funds received 

22 through such grant to carry out any of the following activi23 ties: 


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1 (1) Developing and providing comprehensive 

2 materials to establish AED and CPR programs in 

3 public elementary schools and secondary schools. 

4 (2) Providing support for CPR and AED train5 ing programs in such schools for students, staff, and 

6 related sports volunteers. 

7 (3) Providing support for developing a cardiac 

8 emergency response plan within such schools. 

9 (4) Purchasing AEDs that have been approved 

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

11 Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 360e), cleared under sec12 tion 510(k) of such Act (21 U.S.C. 360(k)), or au13 thorized under section 513(f)(2) of such Act (21 

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

15 (5) Purchasing necessary AED batteries and 

16 performing necessary AED maintenance (such as by 

17 replacing AED pads) in accordance with the labeling 

18 of the AED involved. 

19 (6) Replacing old and outdated AED and CPR 

20 equipment, machinery, and educational materials. 

21 (7) Fostering new and existing community part22 nerships with and among local educational agencies, 

23 nonprofit organizations, public health organizations, 

24 emergency medical service providers, fire and police 


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1 departments, and parent-teacher associations to pro2 mote the importance of defibrillation in such schools. 

3 (8) Aiding school athletic departments to screen 

4 student athletes for risk of sudden cardiac arrest, 

5 consistent with guidelines of the American Heart As6 sociation and the American College of Cardiology. 

7 (9) Further developing strategies to improve ac8 cess to AEDs in such schools. 

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

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

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

12 public charter school operating as a local educational 

13 agency under State law), in consultation with a 

14 qualified health care entity; and 

15 (2) submit to the Secretary an application at 

16 such time, in such manner, and containing such in17 formation as the Secretary may reasonably require. 

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

19 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es20 tablish a clearinghouse database— 

21 (1) to collect and make available information, 

22 including through voluntary reporting by local edu23 cational agencies, State educational agencies, and 

24 manufacturers, relating to student access to 

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1 ondary schools, including with respect to the costs of 

2 providing AEDs and CPR training; and 

3 (2) to gather information in a central location 

4 to facilitate research regarding sudden cardiac arrest 

5 in the pediatric population. 

6 (e) REPORTS.— 

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

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

9 the grant shall submit to the Secretary a report that 

10 describes the activities carried out with funds re11 ceived through the grant. 

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

13 after receiving the reports required by paragraph 

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

15 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Sen16 ate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

17 and the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

18 of the House of Representatives a consolidated eval19 uation of the activities carried out pursuant to 

20 grants under this section. 

21 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

22 (1) the term ‘‘AED’’ means an automated ex23 ternal defibrillator; 

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

25 resuscitation; 


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1 (3) the terms ‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘local edu2 cational agency’’, and ‘‘secondary school’’ have the 

3 meanings given to such terms in section 8101 of the 

4 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

5 (20 U.S.C. 7801); 

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

7 means a health care entity that— 

8 (A) is— 

9 (i) a public entity; or 

10 (ii) an organization that is described 

11 in section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue 

12 Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation 

13 under section 501(a) of such Code; 

14 (B) demonstrates an ability to develop, 

15 train, and implement a comprehensive program 

16 to promote student access to defibrillation in el17 ementary and secondary schools; and 

18 (C) is qualified in providing technical as19 sistance in AED and CPR training; and 

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

21 of Health and Human Services. 

22 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

23 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 


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1 $25,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2024 through 

2 2028. 

Æ 


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