As part of ongoing efforts to promote lifesaving sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) legislation, the ACC Advocacy team, along with members of ACC’s Pennsylvania Chapter and partners from the National Football League’s Smart Heart Sports Coalition, met with state lawmakers and held a press conference in support of S.B. 375.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Rosemary Brown, would require Pennsylvania schools to:

• Establish a program to make at least one AED available in every school building, sports event or practice
• Develop or amend a cardiac emergency response plan that meets nationally recognized, evidence-based standards, to be reviewed and rehearsed annually
• Make AED and CPR education available to employees at least once every two years, and require coaches, physical education teachers, school nurses and athletic trainers to participate in such instruction

“Having an AED on-site, wherever that person may be, increases that person’s likelihood of survival exponentially,” said Neerav Girish Sheth, MD, FACC. “The clock does not start when you recognize there is a problem, the clock starts when the event begins.”

If enacted, Pennsylvania will join several other states, including New Mexico, Kentucky and Indiana, that have taken steps to prevent SCA since Damar Hamlin’s televised collapse on the football field earlier this year. View more highlights from the event on ACC’s social media. For more information, check out ACC’s patient and clinician resources on SCA.