New legislation aims to get AEDs and training to all Michigan schools
LANSING, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - In a cardiac emergency, seconds count.
Lawmakers in Lansing want to make sure schools across Michigan have access to automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and they're usable.
"In committee, we heard about a student-athlete who was saved by an AED, but that that AED only had one charge left, had outdated paddles, that the equipment itself was actually aging and decaying," said state Rep. John Fitzgerald, who sponsored one of the bills.
The two new bills would require schools to have AEDs accessible within three minutes, require schools to have a comprehensive cardiac emergency response plan in place, and offer training on the devices. Lawmakers say they hope the bills will ensure schools are prepared.
"I'd much rather have a school, have it, and not need it than to need it and not have it," said state Rep. Tyrone Carter, who sponsored the other bill. "I think this goes a long way toward that, that sense of we have the things we need to be successful."
Fitzgerald and Carter say most schools in Michigan already have AEDs in their buildings, but their legislation is about more than access.
"Maintenance is going to be important to ensure that when that device is called upon, it is ready to do its job and to save that person's life," said Fitzgerald.
AEDs can range in price, and Fitzgerald said that through the legislative process, lawmakers will consider just how to bankroll getting these machines to every school.
"When we've advocated for every student getting a computer, we've advocated for all of this technology. Why would we let a couple of hundred dollars stop us from doing this? And the money we've invested in school safety, you know, we'll figure out a way," said Carter.