Posted: | January 25, 2019 12:31 PM |
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From: | Representative Rosemary M. Brown |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | AEDs at Athletic Events |
In the near future I plan to introduce legislation that will require a school entity or nonpublic school, to have an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) present at all interscholastic athletic events, including practices. This legislation will also require each school entity or nonpublic school to establish and implement a sudden cardiac event emergency action plan during an athletic activity. In youth, often sudden cardiac arrest is due to an underlying, undiagnosed cardiac abnormality. If the abnormality is found, often competitive athletic events may be restricted as sports participation has been associated with an increased risk of sudden cardiac arrest in young people. However, often the abnormality is missed therefore athletic precautions are not taken. AEDs are an effective emergency technology that we should have readily available at Pennsylvania school athletic activities to be prepared for an unfortunate cardiac arrest event. This initiative should be implemented and prioritized in a school district's athletic department budget. Currently our schools have the ability to implement these measures however unfortunately, they have not chosen to prioritize these important safety measures. The goal of this legislation is to create a detailed emergency plan that can be utilized at a school sporting activity if a sudden cardiac arrest occurs. It also requires that an AED be present to reduce the potential for a fatal cardiac episode. Please join me in cosponsoring this important and potentially life-saving legislation. Also, please see the attached article, one of many showing how an AED can save a young life and the commonsense measure in Pennsylvania we should be implementing. http://www.wdrb.com/story/37208180/aed-and-fast-action-credited-for-reviving-5th-grade-girl-at-floyd-central-basketball-tournament#.WlJt2fpQ--g.mailto NO AED, NO GAME, NO PRACTICE View Attachment |
Introduced as HB701