H. R. 2498—25
‘‘(2) consider the recommendations of national and local
public-health organizations for improving the survival rates
of individuals who experience cardiac arrest in nonhospital
settings by minimizing the time elapsing between the onset
of cardiac arrest and the initial medical response, including
defibrillation as necessary; and
‘‘(3) consult with and counsel other Federal agencies where
such devices are to be used.
‘‘(d) DATE CERTAIN FOR ESTABLISHING GUIDELINES AND REC-
OMMENDATIONS.—The Secretary shall comply with this section not
later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of the Cardiac
Arrest Survival Act of 2000.
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:
‘‘(1) The term ‘automated external defibrillator device’ has
the meaning given such term in section 248.
‘‘(2) The term ‘Federal building’ includes a building or
portion of a building leased or rented by a Federal agency,
and includes buildings on military installations of the United
States.’’.
SEC. 404. GOOD SAMARITAN PROTECTIONS REGARDING EMERGENCY
USE OF AUTOMATED EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATORS.
Part B of title II of the Public Health Service Act, as amended
by section 403, is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘LIABILITY REGARDING EMERGENCY USE OF AUTOMATED EXTERNAL
DEFIBRILLATORS
‘‘SEC. 248. (a) GOOD
SAMARITAN
PROTECTIONS
REGARDING
AEDS.—Except as provided in subsection (b), any person who uses
or attempts to use an automated external defibrillator device on
a victim of a perceived medical emergency is immune from civil
liability for any harm resulting from the use or attempted use
of such device; and in addition, any person who acquired the device
is immune from such liability, if the harm was not due to the
failure of such acquirer of the device—
‘‘(1) to notify local emergency response personnel or other
appropriate entities of the most recent placement of the device
within a reasonable period of time after the device was placed;
‘‘(2) to properly maintain and test the device; or
‘‘(3) to provide appropriate training in the use of the device
to an employee or agent of the acquirer when the employee
or agent was the person who used the device on the victim,
except that such requirement of training does not apply if—
‘‘(A) the employee or agent was not an employee or
agent who would have been reasonably expected to use
the device; or
‘‘(B) the period of time elapsing between the engage-
ment of the person as an employee or agent and the occur-
rence of the harm (or between the acquisition of the device
and the occurrence of the harm, in any case in which
the device was acquired after such engagement of the per-
son) was not a reasonably sufficient period in which to
provide the training.
‘‘(b) INAPPLICABILITY
OF
IMMUNITY.—Immunity under sub-
section (a) does not apply to a person if—
H. R. 2498—26
‘‘(1) the harm involved was caused by willful or criminal
misconduct, gross negligence, reckless misconduct, or a con-
scious, flagrant indifference to the rights or safety of the victim
who was harmed;
‘‘(2) the person is a licensed or certified health professional
who used the automated external defibrillator device while
acting within the scope of the license or certification of the
professional and within the scope of the employment or agency
of the professional;
‘‘(3) the person is a hospital, clinic, or other entity whose
purpose is providing health care directly to patients, and the
harm was caused by an employee or agent of the entity who
used the device while acting within the scope of the employment
or agency of the employee or agent; or
‘‘(4) the person is an acquirer of the device who leased
the device to a health care entity (or who otherwise provided
the device to such entity for compensation without selling the
device to the entity), and the harm was caused by an employee
or agent of the entity who used the device while acting within
the scope of the employment or agency of the employee or
agent.
‘‘(c) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The following applies with respect to
this section:
‘‘(A) This section does not establish any cause of action,
or require that an automated external defibrillator device
be placed at any building or other location.
‘‘(B) With respect to a class of persons for which this
section provides immunity from civil liability, this section
supersedes the law of a State only to the extent that
the State has no statute or regulations that provide persons
in such class with immunity for civil liability arising from
the use by such persons of automated external defibrillator
devices in emergency situations (within the meaning of
the State law or regulation involved).
‘‘(C) This section does not waive any protection from
liability for Federal officers or employees under—
‘‘(i) section 224; or
‘‘(ii) sections 1346(b), 2672, and 2679 of title 28,
United States Code, or under alternative benefits pro-
vided by the United States where the availability of
such benefits precludes a remedy under section 1346(b)
of title 28.
‘‘(2) CIVIL ACTIONS UNDER FEDERAL LAW.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The applicability of subsections (a)
and (b) includes applicability to any action for civil liability
described in subsection (a) that arises under Federal law.
‘‘(B) FEDERAL
AREAS
ADOPTING
STATE
LAW.—If a
geographic area is under Federal jurisdiction and is located
within a State but out of the jurisdiction of the State,
and if, pursuant to Federal law, the law of the State
applies in such area regarding matters for which there
is no applicable Federal law, then an action for civil liability
described in subsection (a) that in such area arises under
the law of the State is subject to subsections (a) through
(c) in lieu of any related State law that would apply in
such area in the absence of this subparagraph.
H. R. 2498—27
‘‘(d) FEDERAL JURISDICTION.—In any civil action arising under
State law, the courts of the State involved have jurisdiction to
apply the provisions of this section exclusive of the jurisdiction
of the courts of the United States.
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—
‘‘(1) PERCEIVED MEDICAL EMERGENCY.—For purposes of this
section, the term ‘perceived medical emergency’ means cir-
cumstances in which the behavior of an individual leads a
reasonable person to believe that the individual is experiencing
a life-threatening medical condition that requires an immediate
medical response regarding the heart or other cardiopulmonary
functioning of the individual.
‘‘(2) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:
‘‘(A) The term ‘automated external defibrillator device’
means a defibrillator device that—
‘‘(i) is commercially distributed in accordance with
the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act;
‘‘(ii) is capable of recognizing the presence or
absence of ventricular fibrillation, and is capable of
determining without intervention by the user of the
device whether defibrillation should be performed;
‘‘(iii) upon determining that defibrillation should
be performed, is able to deliver an electrical shock
to an individual; and
‘‘(iv) in the case of a defibrillator device that may
be operated in either an automated or a manual mode,
is set to operate in the automated mode.
‘‘(B)(i) The term ‘harm’ includes physical, nonphysical,
economic, and noneconomic losses.
‘‘(ii) The term ‘economic loss’ means any pecuniary
loss resulting from harm (including the loss of earnings
or other benefits related to employment, medical expense
loss, replacement services loss, loss due to death, burial
costs, and loss of business or employment opportunities)
to the extent recovery for such loss is allowed under
applicable State law.
‘‘(iii) The term ‘noneconomic losses’ means losses for
physical and emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience,
physical impairment, mental anguish, disfigurement, loss
of enjoyment of life, loss of society and companionship,
loss of consortium (other than loss of domestic service),
hedonic damages, injury to reputation and all other non-
pecuniary losses of any kind or nature.’’.
Subtitle B—Rural Access to Emergency
Devices
SEC. 411. SHORT TITLE.
This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Access to Emergency
Devices Act’’ or the ‘‘Rural AED Act’’.
SEC. 412. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the
United States.
H. R. 2498—28
(2) The American Heart Association estimates that 250,000
Americans die from sudden cardiac arrest each year.
(3) A cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival drops 10
percent for every minute that passes before his or her heart
is returned to normal rhythm.
(4) Because most cardiac arrest victims are initially in
ventricular fibrillation, and the only treatment for ventricular
fibrillation is defibrillation, prompt access to defibrillation to
return the heart to normal rhythm is essential.
(5) 
Lifesaving 
technology, 
the 
automated 
external
defibrillator, has been developed to allow trained lay rescuers
to respond to cardiac arrest by using this simple device to
shock the heart into normal rhythm.
(6) Those people who are likely to be first on the scene
of a cardiac arrest situation in many communities, particularly
smaller and rural communities, lack sufficient numbers of auto-
mated external defibrillators to respond to cardiac arrest in
a timely manner.
(7) The American Heart Association estimates that more
than 50,000 deaths could be prevented each year if defibrillators
were more widely available to designated responders.
(8) Legislation should be enacted to encourage greater
public access to automated external defibrillators in commu-
nities across the United States.
SEC. 413. GRANTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and Human Services,
acting through the Rural Health Outreach Office of the Health
Resources and Services Administration, shall award grants to
community partnerships that meet the requirements of subsection
(b) to enable such partnerships to purchase equipment and provide
training as provided for in subsection (c).
(b) COMMUNITY
PARTNERSHIPS.—A community partnership
meets the requirements of this subsection if such partnership—
(1) is composed of local emergency response entities such
as community training facilities, local emergency responders,
fire and rescue departments, police, community hospitals, and
local non-profit entities and for-profit entities concerned about
cardiac arrest survival rates;
(2) evaluates the local community emergency response
times to assess whether they meet the standards established
by national public health organizations such as the American
Heart Association and the American Red Cross; and
(3) submits to the Secretary of Health and Human Services
an application at such time, in such manner, and containing
such information as the Secretary may require.
(c) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts provided under a grant under
this section shall be used—
(1) to purchase automated external defibrillators that have
been approved, or cleared for marketing, by the Food and
Drug Administration; and
(2) to provide defibrillator and basic life support training
in automated external defibrillator usage through the American
Heart Association, the American Red Cross, or other nationally
recognized training courses.
(d) REPORT.—Not later than 4 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services