The initiative is focused on creating a healthier and more active Kansas by tackling the obesity epidemic of the state’s citizens head on. The program requires active collaboration amongst a number of groups including the state government, hospitals, physicians, insurance companies, technology partners and citizens of Kansas, all of whom are working toward the goal of losing one million pounds and walking 10 million miles in a span of one year. “To lead a happy and healthy life is the fundamental right of every human being,” says Lakkireddy. “The One Million Pounds and 10 Million Miles initiative is a step in the right direction to motivate people of Kansas to take ownership of their right for healthy living.” He adds that the Chapter is working on the logistics and collaborating with other organizations with a kick off planned for early 2016.

Several chapters have also made this issue a priority, including Ohio and Connecticut where Laxmi S. Mehta, MD, FACC, governor of the Ohio Chapter, and Gilead I. Lancaster, MD, FACC, governor of the Connecticut Chapter, have testified and remain vocal advocates in their respective states.

In recent testimony, Mehta emphasized the impact that the lack of timely and effective CPR has on Americans. “Every year nearly 424,000 people in the U.S. suffer out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest and only 10.4 percent survive, making it one of the leading causes of death in the country,” she said. “Five minutes makes the difference in survival.” She cites the support of the cardiovascular community as a key component in helping to find cost-effective ways of implementing this mandatory graduation requirement. “We are ready to help implement [this legislation] and help put thousands of potential lifesavers into the community each year,” she said. While there has not been a decision in Ohio on this legislation, the Ohio Chapter continues to actively support the effort to make CPR training a graduation requirement.

In early October, Charles I. Berul, MD, FACC, the ACC’s Board of Governors representative for Washington, DC, testified during a DC City Council hearing on a bill requiring the placement of AEDs and training personnel in all schools in the city. According to Berul, “This bill will save lives! However, AED training should not be limited to coaches and school nurses. Equipping these students with vital AED and CPR skills would put thousands of potential lifesavers in the community each year.”

The ACC has been a longtime supporter of AED and CPR training requirements for high school students. Furthering this effort, ACC staff has worked with the National Lieutenant Governor’s Association to pass a policy resolution recommending that students are trained in CPR and AED before graduating from high school. As of October, the total number of states with similar legislation is 26, with New York and North Dakota being the latest states to mandate CPR training as a high school graduation requirement.

Meanwhile, the New Jersey Chapter of the ACC was instrumental in arming health care providers with training and professional development to aid in the pre-participation assessment of student athletes. The training, among the first of its kind in the U.S., comes in the form of an educational and instructional video known as a professional development module. It came about after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in 2013 signed the Scholastic Student-Athlete Safety Act which established measures to ensure the health of student athletes. The bill served as a response to the recommendations drafted by the New Jersey Task Force on Screening of High School Athletes for cardiovascular disease, led by Lou E. Teichholz, MD, FACC, past New Jersey ACC Chapter Governor.

The state law requires that the New Jersey Departments of Education and Health develop the module in consultation with not only the New Jersey Chapter of the ACC, but also working in concert with the New Jersey Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians and the American Heart Association. The collaboration resulted in the Student Athlete Cardiac Screening Professional Development Module, which was funded by ACC’s New Jersey Chapter, and sets out to increase the assessment skills of those medical professionals such as physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners who perform student-athlete assessments and screenings.

“Members of the ACC are committed to dramatically reducing the incidence, severity and complications of cardiovascular disease, and this training program will go a long way in promoting prevention, reducing disparities in health care, and improving personal and population-based cardiovascular health,” says Joel S. Landzberg, MD, FACC, president and governor of ACC’s New Jersey Chapter. “It’s an honor to assist the state in developing and rolling out this important public health and education program.

To date, the New Jersey module has equipped more than 5,000 professionals with pre-participation assessment training.

To date, 46 states and the District of Columbia have enacted pulse oximetry screening requirements, with Washington, Colorado and Hawaii approving bills in the first half of 2015. The District of Columbia is the most recent addition to the list with the law taking effect in September. Vermont is proceeding with regulation as well, leaving only Wyoming, Idaho and Kansas without laws in place. ACC Chapters have been instrumental in grassroots efforts to advocate for these bills through hearing testimony, meetings with legislators and by joining forces with stakeholders such as the American Heart Association.

Mansour offered the resolution at the Mississippi State Medical Association annual meeting. It was accepted and will be used to educate state lawmakers on the importance of smoking cessation, diabetes awareness and wellness-education improvements. Other states are considering similar efforts.

These stories from the states are just a handful of examples of how ACC’s chapters are working at a grassroots level to advocate for state-level changes to improve the cardiovascular health of their residents. Look for more on successes and progress around population health and prevention efforts in the states in upcoming issues of Cardiology, as well as on the ACC in Touch Blog.