[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4121 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4121

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the establishment 
at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of a program regarding 
lifesaving interventions for individuals who experience cardiac arrest, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 23, 1998

   Mr. Stearns (for himself, Mr. Gekas, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Waxman, Mr. 
  Frost, Mrs. Mink of Hawaii, Mr. Filner, Mr. Hilliard, Mr. McCollum, 
Mrs. Kennelly of Connecticut, Mr. Clement, Mr. Shays, Mr. Faleomavaega, 
Mr. Hastings of Florida, Ms. Carson, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Walsh, Mr. Boehlert, 
Mrs. Linda Smith of Washington, Mr. Cook, and Mr. Delahunt) introduced 
  the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the establishment 
at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of a program regarding 
lifesaving interventions for individuals who experience cardiac arrest, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Cardiac Arrest Survival Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Each year more than 350,000 adults suffer cardiac 
        arrest, usually away from a hospital. More than 95 percent of 
        them will die, in many cases, because lifesaving defibrillators 
        arrive on the scene too late, if at all.
            (2) These cardiac arrest deaths occur primarily from occult 
        underlying heart disease and from drownings, allergic or 
        sensitivity reactions, or electrical shocks.
            (3) Survival from cardiac arrest requires successful early 
        implementation of a chain of events, the chain of survival 
        which begins when the person sustains a cardiac arrest and 
        continues until the person arrives at the hospital.
            (4) A successful chain of survival requires the first 
        person on the scene to take rapid and simple initial steps to 
        care for the patient and to assure the patient promptly enters 
        the emergency medical services system.
            (5) The first persons on the scene when an arrest occurs 
        are typically lay persons who are friends or family of the 
        victim, fire services, public safety personnel, basic life 
        support emergency medical services providers, teachers, 
        coaches, and supervisors of sports or other extracurricular 
        activities, providers of day care, school bus drivers, 
        lifeguards, attendants at public gatherings, coworkers, and 
        other leaders within the community.
            (6) A coordinated Federal response is necessary to ensure 
        that appropriate and timely lifesaving interventions are 
        provided to persons sustaining nontraumatic cardiac arrest. The 
        Federal response should include, but not be limited to--
                    (A) significantly expanded research concerning the 
                efficacy of various methods of providing immediate out-
                of-hospital lifesaving interventions to the 
                nontraumatic cardiac arrest patient;
                    (B) the development of research-based, nationally 
                uniform, easily learned and well retained model core 
                educational content concerning the use of such 
                lifesaving interventions by health care professionals, 
                allied health personnel, emergency medical services 
                personnel, public safety personnel, and other persons 
                who are likely to arrive immediately at the scene of a 
                sudden cardiac arrest;
                    (C) an identification of the legal, political, 
                financial, and other barriers to implementing these 
                lifesaving interventions; and
                    (D) the development of model State legislation to 
                reduce identified barriers and to enhance each State's 
                response to this significant problem.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH MODEL PROGRAM ON THE FIRST LINKS 
              IN THE CHAIN OF SURVIVAL.

    Section 421 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 285b-3) is 
amended by adding at the end the following subsection:
    ``(c) Programs under subsection (a)(1)(E) (relating to emergency 
medical services and preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic, and 
rehabilitative approaches) shall include programs for the following:
            ``(1) The development and dissemination, in coordination 
        with the emergency services guidelines promulgated under 
        section 402(a) of title 23, United States Code, by the 
        Associate Administrator for Traffic Safety Programs, Department 
        of Transportation, of a core content for a model State 
training program applicable to cardiac arrest for inclusion in 
appropriate current emergency medical services educational curricula 
and training programs that address lifesaving interventions, including 
cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation. In developing the 
core content for such program, the Director of the Institute may rely 
upon the content of similar curricula and training programs developed 
by national nonprofit entities. The core content of such program--
                    ``(A) may be used by health care professionals, 
                allied health personnel, emergency medical services 
                personnel, public safety personnel, and any other 
                persons who are likely to arrive immediately at the 
                scene of a sudden cardiac arrest (in this subsection 
                referred to as `cardiac arrest care providers') to 
                provide lifesaving interventions, including 
                cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation;
                    ``(B) shall include age-specific criteria for the 
                use of particular techniques, which shall include 
                infants and children; and
                    ``(C) shall be reevaluated as additional 
                interventions are shown to be effective.
            ``(2) The operation of a limited demonstration project to 
        provide training in such core content for cardiac arrest care 
        providers to validate the effectiveness of the training 
        program.
            ``(3) The definition and identification of cardiac arrest 
        care providers, by personal relationship, exposure to arrest or 
        trauma, occupation (including health professionals), or 
        otherwise, who could provide benefit to victims of out-of-
        hospital arrest by comprehension of such core content.
            ``(4) The establishment of criteria for completion and 
        comprehension of such core content, including consideration of 
        inclusion in health and safety educational curricula.
            ``(5) The identification of equipment and supplies that 
        should be accessible to cardiac arrest care providers to permit 
        lifesaving interventions by preplacement of such equipment in 
        appropriate locations insofar as such activities are consistent 
        with the development of the core content and utilize 
        information derived from such studies by the National 
        Institutes of Health on investigation in cardiac resuscitation.
            ``(6) The development in accordance with this paragraph of 
        model State legislation (or Federal legislation applicable to 
        Federal territories, facilities, and employees). In developing 
        the model legislation, the Director of the Institute shall 
        cooperate with the Attorney General, and may consult with 
        nonprofit private organizations that are involved in the 
        drafting of model State legislation. The model legislation 
        should take into consideration the following:
                    ``(A) The purpose of the model legislation shall be 
                to ensure--
                            ``(i) access to emergency medical services 
                        through consideration of a requirement for 
                        public placement of lifesaving equipment; and
                            ``(ii) good samaritan immunity for cardiac 
                        arrest care providers; those involved with the 
                        instruction of the training programs; and 
                        owners and managers of property where equipment 
                        is placed.
                    ``(B) In the development of the model legislation, 
                there shall be consideration of requirements for 
                training in the core content and use of lifesaving 
                equipment for State licensure or credentialing of 
                health professionals or other occupations or employment 
                of other individuals who may be defined as cardiac 
                arrest care providers under paragraph (3).
            ``(7) The coordination of a national database for reporting 
        and collecting information relating to the incidence of cardiac 
        arrest, the circumstances surrounding such arrests, the rate of 
        survival, the effect of age, and whether interventions, 
        including cardiac arrest care provider interventions, or other 
        aspects of the chain of survival, improve the rate of survival. 
        The development of such database shall be coordinated with 
        other existing databases on emergency care that have been 
        developed under the authority of the National Highway Traffic 
        Safety Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention.''.
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