Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 116 Part 1.djvu/660

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116 STAT. 634 PUBLIC LAW 107-188-JUNE 12, 2002 Community SEC. 159. PUBLIC ACCESS DEFIBRILLATION PROGRAMS AND PUBLIC Access to ACCESS DEFIBRILLATION DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS. Emergency , , ../-, Defibrillation Act (a) SHORT TITLE.— This section may be cited as the Community of 2002. Access to Emergency Defibrillation Act of 2002". t 42 USC 244 note ^^-^ FINDINGS. — Congress makes the following findings: (1) Over 220,000 Americans die each year from cardiac arrest. Every 2 minutes, an individual goes into cardiac arrest in the United States. (2) The chance of successfully returning to a normal heart rhythm diminishes by 10 percent each minute following sudden cardiac arrest. (3) Eighty percent of cardiac arrests are caused by ventricular fibrillation, for which defibrillation is the only effective treatment. (4) Sixty percent of all cardiac arrests occur outside the hospital. The average national survival rate for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is only 5 percent. (5) Communities that have established and implemented public access defibrillation programs have achieved average survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest as high as 50 percent. (6) According to the American Heart Association, wide use of defibrillators could save as many as 50,000 lives nationally each year. (7) Successful public access defibrillation programs ensure that cardiac arrest victims have access to early 911 notification, early cardiopulmonary resuscitation, early defibrillation, and early advanced care. (c) PUBLIC ACCESS DEFIBRILLATION PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS. — Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.), as amended by Public Law 106-310, is amended by adding after section 311 the following: 42 USC 244. «SEC. 312. PUBLIC ACCESS DEFIBRILLATION PROGRAMS. Grants. "(a) IN GENERAL. —The Secretary shall award grants to States, political subdivisions of States, Indian tribes, and tribal organizations to develop and implement public access defibrillation programs— "(1) by training and equipping local emergency medical services personnel, including firefighters, police officers, paramedics, emergency medical technicians, and other first responders, to administer immediate care, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillation, to cardiac arrest victims; "(2) by purchasing automated external defibrillators, placing the defibrillators in public places where cardiac arrests are likely to occur, and training personnel in such places to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillation to cardiac arrest victims; "(3) by setting procedures for proper maintenance and testing of such devices, according to the guidelines of the manufacturers of the devices; "(4) by providing training to members of the public in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillation; "(5) by integrating the emergency medical services system with the public access defibrillation programs so that emergency