[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4989 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4989

  To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award a 
   grant to a health care organization to promote student access to 
   defibrillation in elementary and secondary schools, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 5, 2019

  Mr. Lawson of Florida (for himself and Mr. Thompson of Mississippi) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and 
 Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
   each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award a 
   grant to a health care organization to promote student access to 
   defibrillation in elementary and secondary schools, 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 ``Access to AEDs Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the 
        United States.
            (2) Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death for 
        student athletes.
            (3) In 2017, there were approximately 356,000 sudden 
        cardiac arrests that occurred in the United States, with 9 out 
        of 10 being fatal (320,400). Only 1 in 10 victims survive a 
        sudden cardiac arrest (35,600).
            (4) The American Heart Association estimates that 5 in 10 
        victims (178,000) could survive if bystanders gave CPR and used 
        AEDs immediately, an additional 142,400 victims.
            (5) The chain of survival includes prompt notification of 
        emergency services and early CPR, defibrillation, and advanced 
        cardiac life support.
            (6) Health education should include basic emergency 
        lifesaving skills. Incorporating these lifesaving training 
        programs into the health curriculum of elementary and secondary 
        schools will give school children these skills.

SEC. 3. PROMOTING STUDENT ACCESS TO DEFIBRILLATION.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
award a grant to a health care organization to promote student access 
to defibrillation in elementary schools and secondary schools by--
            (1) developing and providing comprehensive materials to 
        establish defibrillation programs in such schools;
            (2) providing support for CPR and AED training programs in 
        such schools;
            (3) fostering new and existing community partnerships with 
        and among public and private organizations (such as local 
        educational agencies, nonprofit organizations, public health 
        organizations, emergency medical service providers, fire and 
        police departments, and parent-teacher associations) to promote 
        the importance of defibrillation in such schools;
            (4) establishing a clearinghouse database to gather 
        information in a central location regarding sudden cardiac 
        arrest in the pediatric population and thereby facilitating the 
        identification and conduct of further research; and
            (5) providing assistance to secondary school athletic 
        departments seeking to develop programs to screen student 
        athletes for risk of sudden cardiac arrest.
    (b) Application.--A health care organization seeking the grant 
under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 
time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary 
may reasonably require.
    (c) Reports.--
            (1) By grantee.--Not later than 4 years after receipt of 
        the grant under this section, the health care organization 
        receiving the grant shall submit to the Secretary a report that 
        describes the activities carried out with funds received 
        through the grant.
            (2) By secretary.--Not later than 3 months after receipt of 
        the report required by paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 
        submit to the appropriate committees of Congress an evaluation 
        of the success of the activities carried out pursuant to the 
        grant under this section.
    (d) Definition.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``AED'' means an automated external 
        defibrillator.
            (2) The term ``CPR'' means cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
            (3) The terms ``elementary school'' and ``secondary 
        school'' have the meanings given to such terms in section 8101 
        of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 7801).
            (4) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Health 
        and Human Services.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there is authorized to be appropriated $800,000 for the period of 
fiscal years 2020 through 2024.
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