Access to AEDs Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4989 To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award a grant to a health care organization to promote student access to defibrillation in elementary and secondary schools, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 5, 2019 Mr. LAWSON of Florida (for himself and Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award a grant to a health care organization to pro- mote student access to defibrillation in elementary and secondary schools, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Access to AEDs Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 5 The Congress makes the following findings: 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 Nov 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4989.IH H4989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4989 IH (1) Heart disease is the leading cause of death 1 in the United States. 2 (2) Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause 3 of death for student athletes. 4 (3) In 2017, there were approximately 356,000 5 sudden cardiac arrests that occurred in the United 6 States, with 9 out of 10 being fatal (320,400). Only 7 1 in 10 victims survive a sudden cardiac arrest 8 (35,600). 9 (4) The American Heart Association estimates 10 that 5 in 10 victims (178,000) could survive if by- 11 standers gave CPR and used AEDs immediately, an 12 additional 142,400 victims. 13 (5) The chain of survival includes prompt noti- 14 fication of emergency services and early CPR, 15 defibrillation, and advanced cardiac life support. 16 (6) Health education should include basic emer- 17 gency lifesaving skills. Incorporating these lifesaving 18 training programs into the health curriculum of ele- 19 mentary and secondary schools will give school chil- 20 dren these skills. 21 SEC. 3. PROMOTING STUDENT ACCESS TO 22 DEFIBRILLATION. 23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 24 Human Services shall award a grant to a health care orga- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 Nov 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4989.IH H4989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4989 IH nization to promote student access to defibrillation in ele- 1 mentary schools and secondary schools by— 2 (1) developing and providing comprehensive ma- 3 terials to establish defibrillation programs in such 4 schools; 5 (2) providing support for CPR and AED train- 6 ing programs in such schools; 7 (3) fostering new and existing community part- 8 nerships with and among public and private organi- 9 zations (such as local educational agencies, nonprofit 10 organizations, public health organizations, emer- 11 gency medical service providers, fire and police de- 12 partments, and parent-teacher associations) to pro- 13 mote the importance of defibrillation in such schools; 14 (4) establishing a clearinghouse database to 15 gather information in a central location regarding 16 sudden cardiac arrest in the pediatric population 17 and thereby facilitating the identification and con- 18 duct of further research; and 19 (5) providing assistance to secondary school 20 athletic departments seeking to develop programs to 21 screen student athletes for risk of sudden cardiac ar- 22 rest. 23 (b) APPLICATION.—A health care organization seek- 24 ing the grant under this section shall submit an applica- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 Nov 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4989.IH H4989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4989 IH tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 1 containing such information as the Secretary may reason- 2 ably require. 3 (c) REPORTS.— 4 (1) BY GRANTEE.—Not later than 4 years after 5 receipt of the grant under this section, the health 6 care organization receiving the grant shall submit to 7 the Secretary a report that describes the activities 8 carried out with funds received through the grant. 9 (2) BY SECRETARY.—Not later than 3 months 10 after receipt of the report required by paragraph 11 (1), the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate 12 committees of Congress an evaluation of the success 13 of the activities carried out pursuant to the grant 14 under this section. 15 (d) DEFINITION.—In this section: 16 (1) The term ‘‘AED’’ means an automated ex- 17 ternal defibrillator. 18 (2) The term ‘‘CPR’’ means cardiopulmonary 19 resuscitation. 20 (3) The terms ‘‘elementary school’’ and ‘‘sec- 21 ondary school’’ have the meanings given to such 22 terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 23 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 Nov 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4989.IH H4989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4989 IH (4) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 1 of Health and Human Services. 2 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 3 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 4 $800,000 for the period of fiscal years 2020 through 5 2024. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 Nov 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4989.IH H4989 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS