[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 14 (Thursday, February 14, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H509]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          AMERICAN HEART MONTH

  (Mr. SHIMKUS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of American Heart 
Month.
  Sudden cardiac arrests lead to the death of over 230,000 Americans 
each year, including children. Take the case of Sean Morley, a 13-year-
old boy from Buffalo Grove, Illinois. Playing baseball one day, a 
pitcher hurled a fast ball way inside and hit Sean in the chest. He 
immediately went into cardiac arrest. Thankfully, a nearby police 
officer was equipped with an automatic external defibrillator and was 
able to restore a normal heartbeat to the young ball player.
  Like Sean Morley, more lives could be saved if communities had access 
to automatic external defibrillators and were trained to use them.
  I have introduced legislation, along with my colleague, the 
gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps), which would provide grants to 
communities to establish public access to defibrillator programs. The 
Senate unanimously passed companion legislation last Friday, and I urge 
the House to quickly bring this legislation to the floor.
  Mr. Speaker, 50,000 lives could be saved each year if more people 
implemented the chain of survival which includes the use of AEDs, or 
automatic external defibrillators.

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