SENATE PASSES FEINGOLD, COLLINS EFFORT TO HELP SCHOOLS
GAIN ACCESS TO DEFIBRILLATORS
Amendment to Appropriations Bill Boosts Funding for Schools to Purchase
Life-Saving Devices
October 24, 2007
Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Susan
Collins (R-ME) announced today that the Senate has passed their effort
to increase funding for a program to assist schools in purchasing and
training on automated external defibrillators (AEDs). Feingold and Collins
introduced an amendment to the Labor-HHS Appropriations bill to increase
funding for the Automated Defibrillators in Adam’s Memory (ADAM)
Act, a program they have long championed. The Labor-HHS Appropriations
bill will contain $200,000 for the ADAM Act.
The ADAM Act was inspired by Adam Lemel, a 17-year-old high school
student from Wisconsin who collapsed and died from an undiagnosed heart
condition while playing in a basketball game. The ADAM Act funds a national
clearinghouse to help schools set up public programs that provide access
to AEDs and provides schools with technical guidance and appropriate
training.
“I’m pleased that Congress has agreed to fund this important
program so more schools and communities across the country are prepared
if tragedy strikes,” Feingold said. “The ADAM Act is one
way we can honor the life of children like Adam Lemel, and give tomorrow's
pediatric cardiac arrest victims a fighting chance at life. The more
we can do to educate our schools and communities on how to obtain and
operate AEDs, the more lives we can save.”
“We have all heard stories of children suffering from cardiac
arrest at school or during a sporting event, as well as instances where
a school-age child is the first witness to a cardiac arrest or heart
attack,” said Senator Collins. “Many of these victims’
lives could be saved if more people implemented the “Chain of
Survival” which includes early CPR and defibrillation. The clearinghouse
proposed in the ADAM Act will respond to the growing number of schools
that have the desire to set up a public access defibrillation program,
but often don’t know where to start.”
Collins and Feingold are also hailing the Senate’s funding of
the Rural AED program, which allows community partnerships across the
country to receive a grant enabling them to purchase defibrillators,
and receive the training needed to use these devices. At $3 million,
the legislation provides double the funding over last year’s level
of $1.5 million. Since its passage in 2002, the Rural AED program has
successfully secured $45 million in grants to help save lives in rural
communities across the country. The Rural AED program has also enabled
first responders in 49 states to received adequate training to use the
devices.
Approximately 95 percent of sudden cardiac arrest victims die before
reaching the hospital. Every minute that passes before a cardiac arrest
victim is defibrillated, the chance of survival falls by as much as
10 percent. After only 8 minutes, the victim's survival rate drops by
60 percent. This is why early intervention is essential--a combination
of CPR and use of AEDs can save lives.
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