[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 143 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
2d Session
S. CON. RES. 143
Recognizing community organization of public access defibrillation
programs.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 8, 2004
Mr. DeWine (for himself, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Frist, and Ms. Collins)
submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Recognizing community organization of public access defibrillation
programs.
Whereas coronary heart disease is the single leading cause of death in the
United States;
Whereas every two minutes, an individual suffers from cardiac arrest in the
United States, and 250,000 Americans die each year from cardiac arrest
out of hospital;
Whereas the chance of survival for a victim of cardiac arrest diminishes by ten
percent each minute following sudden cardiac arrest;
Whereas 80 percent of cardiac arrests are caused by ventricular fibrillation,
for which defibrillation is the only effective treatment;
Whereas 60 percent of all cardiac arrests occur outside the hospital, and the
average national survival rate for an out-of-hospital victim of cardiac
arrest is only five percent;
Whereas automated external defibrillators (AEDs) make it possible for trained
non-medical rescuers to deliver potentially life-saving defibrillation
to victims of cardiac arrest;
Whereas public access defibrillation (PAD) programs train non-medical
individuals to use AEDs;
Whereas communities that have established and implemented PAD programs that make
use of AEDs have achieved average survival rates as high as 50 percent
for those individuals who have suffered an out-of-hospital cardiac
arrest;
Whereas successful PAD programs ensure that cardiac arrest victims have access
to early 911 notification, early cardiopulmonary resuscitation, early
defibrillation, and advanced care;
Whereas schools, sports arenas, large hotels, concert halls, high-rise
buildings, gated communities, buildings subject to high-security, and
similar facilities can benefit greatly from the use of AEDs as part of a
PAD program, since it often takes additional and therefore critical time
for emergency medical personnel to respond to victims of cardiac arrest
in these areas;
Whereas widespread use of defibrillators could save as many as 50,000 lives
nationally each year;
Whereas the Aviation Medical Assistance Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-170; 49
U.S.C. 44701 note) authorized AEDs to be carried and used aboard
commercial airliners;
Whereas the Cardiac Arrest Survival Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-505; 42 U.S.C.
238p-238q) provided for the placement of AEDs in Federal office
buildings;
Whereas the Rural Access to Emergency Devices Act (Public Law 106-505, 42 U.S.C.
254c note) increased access to AEDs in rural communities;
Whereas the Community Access to Emergency Defibrillation Act of 2001 (Public Law
107-188; 42 U.S.C. 244-245) authorized the development and
implementation of PAD projects; and
Whereas the Automatic Defibrillation in Adam's Memory Act authorizes the use of
grant funds to establish an information clearinghouse to provide
information to increase public access to defibrillation in schools: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring),
That Congress--
(1) recognizes the growing number of community activists,
organizations, and municipal governments leading the national
effort to establish public access defibrillation (PAD)
programs; and
(2) encourages the continued development and implementation
of PAD programs in schools, sports arenas, NASCAR race tracks,
large hotels, concert halls, public housing, high-rise
buildings, gated communities, buildings subject to high-
security, and similar facilities to increase the survival rate
for victims of cardiac arrest.
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