AED Laws and Regulations by State

January 20, 2014
Yuliya Matthews

What makes one state’s Automated External Defibrillator (AED) laws and regulations superior to another state’s? Do the states with no AED laws and regulations have humans with superpowers living there? Are they less prone to suffer sudden cardiac arrest. Absolutely not.

https://www.sca-aware.org/about-sudden-cardiac-arrest/cpr-and-aed-laws

It still does not make sense that all 50 states have different regulations when it comes to AEDs. Why should California have less AED regulations, while New York requires AEDs to be mandated in all public and private K-12 schools, assisted living facilities, health clubs, and nursing homes? If you lived in California, or any other state that has little to no AED regulation, wouldn’t you want to see these regulations be installed? This is YOUR mother’s, father’s, sister’s, brother’s, aunt’s, uncle’s, grandfather’s, grandmother’s, friend’s, child’s life that we are talking about here that could be in jeopardy at any moment.

http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/laws-on-cardiac-arrest-and-defibrillators-aeds.aspx

Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) strikes 1,000 people a day. This is equivalent to 1 person EVERY 90 seconds. One person every minute and a half goes into sudden cardiac arrest, and this is without choosing favorites. There are no favorites when it comes to SCA. You just don’t know when, where, or who will come in touch with cardiac arrest, but when it strikes; the clock starts ticking. Less than ten-minutes. That’s all the time the time that you have to save this person; whether it be a loved one or a complete stranger.

“To Save One Life Is As If To Save The World.” -The Talmud

If you were put in the shoes of the victim or the victim’s family, wouldn’t you want that bystander on the street, in your office, at your favorite local coffee shop, at your fitness facility, doctor’s office, or in your child’s school to be able to get their hands on an AED as fast as possible, which could end up saving your or your loved one’s life? I know that I would.

Here are some facts (from 2014) on AED regulations in the U.S.:

19 out of 50 states require AEDs in SOME schools, but not all
14 out of 50 states require AEDs in health clubs
19 out of 50 states have no requirements for AEDs

So, the question is: Why is our population not as concerned as they should be when it comes to implementing AEDs into more public locations when we know for a fact that AEDs help save lives? Most of us shrug it off and think, “that won’t happen to me”, until it does and by then it may be too late.

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AED Laws and Regulations by State