(Source: MIRS.news, Published 03/05/2024) When Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest after making a tackle in Jan. 2023, having CPR and an automated external defibrillator (AED) quickly administered, saved his life.
But that same month, an 18-year-old Northwestern High School student athlete suffered a cardiac arrest episode. Use of an AED was delayed, and he died a week later. Reps. Tyrone Carter (D-Detroit) and John Fitzgerald (D-Wyoming) hope to prevent similar incidents under HB 5527 and HB 5528.
Schools would be required to develop cardiac emergency response plans, certify all high school coaches in AED and have AED devices available within one to three minutes of a cardiac arrest incident beginning in the 2025-26 school year under legislation that received testimony in the House Regulatory Reform Committee Tuesday.
School personnel would be designated to respond to cardiac emergencies at a school-sponsored athletic event, and the response plan would be developed by the school’s governing body.
In 2011, Fennville basketball player Wes Leonard made the game-winning shot and collapsed to the ground after being hoisted up by his teammates. An AED was later found in a storage room, its battery dead. Leonard died a few minutes later.
The state doesn’t require schools to have AEDs on hand, and the Michigan High School Athletic Association requires head coaches to have valid CPR certification, but not for AED. The average cost of an AED is $1,500, and Fitzgerald said he hopes it can be worked into the appropriations process.
Fitzgerald said about 39% of sudden cardiac arrest incidents nationally occurred in youths under 18 in a sports-related setting in 2022, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).
Rep. Graham Filler (R-St. Johns) questioned what “within one to three minutes” would mean, stating he thinks it would open a school to lawsuits.
Fitzgerald said that it is a data-driven response time, and that the school board’s job when developing the emergency response plan would be to choose the best place for the AED to be for quick access.
Cardiac arrest survivor Alex Bowerson told the committee today that he wouldn’t have survived without rapidly administered CPR and AED.
He was a three-sport athlete in Memphis, Michigan. During a run at wrestling practice in 2022, he experienced cardiac arrest. His wrestling coach, athletic trainer and athletic director did not know what to do, but since the varsity cheer coach was an ER nurse and there was an AED on campus, his life was saved.
“I don’t think there’s any possible chance I would have survived if there was no AED in my school,” Bowerson said. “I hope this story can encourage you that these bills will save lives. They’ll save young lives, and this is a problem and here’s the solution.”
