[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1488 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1488

 To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for recommendations 
 of the Secretary of Health and Human Services regarding the placement 
 of automatic external defibrillators in Federal buildings in order to 
improve survival rates of individuals who experience cardiac arrest in 
   such buildings, and to establish protections from civil liability 
             arising from the emergency use of the devices.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 4, 1999

  Mr. Gorton introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for recommendations 
 of the Secretary of Health and Human Services regarding the placement 
 of automatic external defibrillators in Federal buildings in order to 
improve survival rates of individuals who experience cardiac arrest in 
   such buildings, and to establish protections from civil liability 
             arising from the emergency use of the devices.

    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 of 
1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Each year more than 250,000 adults suffer cardiac 
        arrest, usually away from a hospital. More than 95 percent of 
        them will die, in many cases because cardiopulmonary 
        resuscitation (``CPR''), defibrillation, and advanced life 
        support are provided too late to reverse the cardiac arrest. 
        These cardiac arrests occur primarily from occult underlying 
        heart disease and from drowning, allergic or sensitivity 
        reactions, or electrical shocks.
            (2) Every minute that passes before returning the heart to 
        a normal rhythm after a cardiac arrest causes the chance of 
        survival to fall by 10 percent.
            (3) In communities where strong public access to 
        defibrillation programs have been implemented, survival from 
        cardiac arrest has improved by as much as 20 percent.
            (4) Survival from cardiac arrest requires successful early 
        implementation of a chain of events, known as the chain of 
        survival, which must be initiated as soon as the person 
        sustains a cardiac arrest and must continue until the person 
        arrives at the hospital.
            (5) The chain of survival is the medical standard of care 
        for treatment of cardiac arrest.
            (6) 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 that the patient promptly 
        enters the emergency medical services system. These steps 
        include--
                    (A) recognizing an emergency and activating the 
                emergency medical services system;
                    (B) beginning CPR; and
                    (C) using an automated external defibrillator 
                (``AED'') if one is available at the scene.
            (7) The first persons at the scene of an arrest 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.
            (8) The Federal Government should facilitate programs for 
        the placement of AEDs in public buildings, including provisions 
        regarding the training of personnel in CPR and AED use, 
        integration with the emergency medical services system, and 
        maintenance of the devices.

SEC. 3. RECOMMENDATIONS OF SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 
              REGARDING PLACEMENT OF AUTOMATIC EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATORS 
              IN FEDERAL BUILDINGS.

    Part B of title II of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 238 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following section:

      ``recommendations regarding placement of automated external 
                  defibrillators in federal buildings

    ``Sec. 247. (a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date 
of the enactment of the Cardiac Arrest Survival Act of 1999, the 
Secretary shall assist in providing for an improvement in the survival 
rates of individuals who experience cardiac arrest in Federal buildings 
by publishing in the Federal Register for public comment the 
recommendations of the Secretary with respect to placing automatic 
external defibrillators in such buildings. The Secretary shall in 
addition assist Federal agencies in implementing programs for such 
placement.
    ``(b) Consideration of Certain Goals for Survival Rates.--In 
carrying out this section, the Secretary shall consider the goals 
established by national public-health organizations for improving the 
survival rates of individuals who experience cardiac arrest in 
nonhospital settings, including goals for minimizing the time elapsing 
between the onset of cardiac arrest and the initial medical response.
    ``(c) Certain Procedures.--The matters addressed by the Secretary 
in the recommendations under subsection (a) shall include the 
following:
            ``(1) Procedures for implementing appropriate nationally 
        recognized training courses in performing cardiopulmonary 
        resuscitation and the use of automatic external defibrillators.
            ``(2) Procedures for proper maintenance and testing of such 
        devices, according to the guidelines of the manufacturer of the 
        devices.
            ``(3) Procedures for ensuring direct involvement of a 
        licensed medical professional and coordination with local 
        emergency medical services in the oversight of training and 
        notification of incidents of the use of the devices.
            ``(4) Procedures for ensuring notification of an agent of 
        the local emergency medical system dispatch center of the 
        location and type of device.
    ``(d) Certain Criteria.--In making recommendations under subsection 
(a), the Secretary shall determine the following:
            ``(1) Criteria for selecting the Federal public buildings 
        in which automatic external defibrillators should be placed, 
        taking into account the typical number of employees and 
        visitors in the buildings, the extent of the need for security 
        measures regarding the buildings, buildings or portions of 
        buildings in which there are special circumstances such as high 
        electrical voltage or extreme heat or cold, and such other 
        factors as the Secretary determines to be appropriate.
            ``(2) Criteria regarding the maintenance of such devices 
        (consistent with the labeling for the devices).
            ``(3) Criteria for coordinating the use of the devices in 
        public buildings with providers of emergency medical services 
        for the geographic areas in which the buildings are located.''.

SEC. 4. IMMUNITY FROM CIVIL LIABILITY FOR EMERGENCY USE OF AUTOMATIC 
              EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATORS.

    Part B of title II of the Public Health Service Act, as amended by 
section 3 of this Act, is amended by adding at the end the following 
section:

       ``liability regarding emergency use of automated external 
                             defibrillators

    ``Sec. 248. (a) Persons Using AEDs.--Any person who provides 
emergency medical care through the use of an automated external 
defibrillator is immune from civil liability for any personal injury or 
wrongful death resulting from the provision of such care, except as 
provided in subsection (c).
    ``(b) Other Persons Involved With AEDs; Special Rules for 
Acquirers.--With respect to a personal injury or wrongful death to 
which subsection (a) applies, in addition to the person who provided 
emergency medical care through the use of the automated external 
defibrillator, the following persons are with respect to the device 
immune from civil liability for the personal injury or wrongful death 
in accordance with the following, except as provided in subsection (c):
            ``(1) Any person who maintained the device, tested the 
        device, or provided training in the use of the device is immune 
        from such liability.
            ``(2) Any physician who provided medical oversight 
        regarding the device is immune from such liability.
            ``(3) The person who acquired the device (in this paragraph 
        referred to as the `acquirer') is immune from such liability if 
        the following conditions are met:
                    ``(A) The condition that the acquirer notified 
                local emergency response personnel of the most recent 
                placement of the device within a reasonable period of 
                time after the device was placed.
                    ``(B) The condition that, as of the date on which 
                the emergency occurred, the device had been maintained 
                and tested in accordance with the guidelines 
                established for the device by the manufacturer of the 
                device.
                    ``(C) In any case in which the person who provided 
                the emergency medical care through the use of the 
                device was an employee or agent of the acquirer, and 
                the employee or agent was within the class of persons 
                the acquirer expected would use the device in the event 
                of a relevant emergency, the condition that the 
                employee or agent received reasonable instruction in 
                the use of such devices through a course approved by 
                the Secretary or by the chief public health officer of 
                any of the States.
    ``(c) Inapplicability of Immunity.--Immunity under subsections (a) 
and (b) does not apply to a person if the person engaged in gross 
negligence or willful or wanton misconduct in the circumstances 
described in such subsections that apply to the person with respect to 
automated external defibrillators.
    ``(d) Rules of Construction.--
            ``(1) In general.--The following applies with respect to 
        this section:
                    ``(A) This section does not supersede the law of 
                any State that (before, on, or after the date of the 
                enactment of the Cardiac Arrest Survival Act of 1999) 
                provides through statute or regulations any degree of 
                immunity for any class of persons for civil liability 
                for personal injury or wrongful death arising from the 
                provision of emergency medical care through the use of 
                an automated external defibrillator.
                    ``(B) This section does not waive any protection 
                from liability for Federal officers or employees 
                under--
                            ``(i) section 224; or
                            ``(ii) sections 1346(b) and 2672 of title 
                        28, United States Code, or under alternative 
                        benefits provided by the United States where 
                        the availability of such benefits precludes a 
                        remedy under section 1346(b) of title 28.
                    ``(C) This section does not require that an 
                automated external defibrillator be placed at any 
                building or other location.
            ``(2) Civil actions under federal law.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The applicability of subsections 
                (a) through (c) includes applicability to any action 
                for civil liability described in subsection (a) that 
                arises under Federal law.
                    ``(B) Federal areas adopting state law.--If a 
                geographic area is under Federal jurisdiction and is 
                located within a State but out of the jurisdiction of 
                the State, and if, pursuant to Federal law, the law of 
                the State applies in such area regarding matters for 
                which there is no applicable Federal law, then an 
                action for civil liability described in subsection (a) 
                that in such area arises under the law of the State is 
                subject to subsections (a) through (c) in lieu of any 
                related State law that would apply in such area in the 
                absence of this subparagraph.''.
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