|
Public Health
Improvement Act
Public Law 106-505 106th
Congress
An Act
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for recommendations
of the Secretary of Health and Human Services regarding the placement of
automatic external defibrillators in Federal buildings in order to
improve survival rates of individuals who experience cardiac arrest in
such buildings, and to establish protections from civil liability
arising from the emergency use of the devices. <<NOTE: Nov. 13,
2000 - [H.R. 2498]>>
TITLE IV--CARDIAC ARREST SURVIVAL
Subtitle A--Recommendations for
Federal Buildings
Sec. 401. Short title.
Sec. 402. Findings.
Sec. 403. Recommendations and guidelines of
Secretary of Health and Human Services regarding automated external
defibrillators for Federal buildings.
Sec. 404. Good Samaritan protections
regarding emergency use of automated external defibrillators.
Subtitle B--Rural Access to
Emergency Devices
Sec. 411. Short title.
Sec. 412. Findings.
Sec. 413. Grants.
TITLE IV--CARDIAC ARREST SURVIVAL
Subtitle
A--Recommendations for Federal Buildings
SEC. 401. SHORT TITLE.
This subtitle may be cited as the ``Cardiac Arrest Survival Act of
2000''
SEC. 402. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Over 700 lives are lost every day to sudden cardiac arrest in the
United States alone.
(2) Two out of every three sudden cardiac deaths occur before a
victim can reach a hospital.
(3) More than 95 percent of these cardiac arrest victims will die,
many because of lack of readily available life saving medical equipment.
(4) With current medical technology, up to 30 percent of cardiac
arrest victims could be saved if victims had access to immediate medical
response, including defibrillation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
(5) Once a victim has suffered a cardiac arrest, every minute that
passes before returning the heart to a normal rhythm decreases the
chance of survival by 10 percent.
(6) Most cardiac arrests are caused by abnormal heart rhythms called
ventricular fibrillation. Ventricular fibrillation occurs when the
heart's electrical system malfunctions, causing a chaotic rhythm that
prevents the heart from pumping oxygen to the victim's brain and body.
(7) Communities that have implemented programs ensuring widespread
public access to defibrillators, combined with appropriate training,
maintenance, and coordination with local emergency medical systems, have
dramatically improved the survival rates from cardiac arrest.
(8) Automated external defibrillator devices have been demonstrated
to be safe and effective, even when used by lay people, since the
devices are designed not to allow a user to administer a shock until
after the device has analyzed a victim's heart rhythm and determined
that an electric shock is required.
(9) Increasing public awareness regarding automated external
defibrillator devices and encouraging their use in Federal buildings
will greatly facilitate their adoption.
(10) Limiting the liability of Good Samaritans and acquirers of
automated external defibrillator devices in emergency situations may
encourage the use of automated external defibrillator devices, and
result in saved lives.
Top of page
TVF&R AED Guide
TVF&R AED Home
SEC. 403. RECOMMENDATIONS AND GUIDELINES OF
SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES REGARDING AUTOMATED EXTERNAL
DEFIBRILLATORS FOR FEDERAL BUILDINGS.
Part B of title II of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 238 et
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 247. (a) Guidelines on Placement.--The Secretary shall
establish guidelines with respect to placing automated external
defibrillator devices in Federal buildings. Such guidelines shall take
into account the extent to which such devices may be used by lay
persons, the typical number of employees and visitors in the buildings,
the extent of the need for security measures regarding the buildings,
buildings or portions of buildings in which there are special
circumstances such as high electrical voltage or extreme heat or cold,
and such other factors as the Secretary determines to be appropriate.
``(b) Related Recommendations.--The Secretary shall publish in the
Federal Register the recommendations of the Secretary on the appropriate
implementation of the placement of automated external defibrillator
devices under subsection (a), including procedures for the following:
``(1) Implementing appropriate training courses in the use of such
devices, including the role of cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
``(2) Proper maintenance and testing of the devices.
``(3) Ensuring coordination with appropriate licensed professionals
in the oversight of training of the devices.
``(4) Ensuring coordination with local emergency medical systems
regarding the placement and incidents of use of the devices.
``(c) Consultations; Consideration of Certain Recommendations.--In
carrying out this section, the Secretary shall—
``(1) consult with appropriate public and private entities;
``(2) consider the recommendations of national and local
public-health organizations for improving the survival rates of
individuals who experience cardiac arrest in nonhospital settings by
minimizing the time elapsing between the onset of cardiac arrest and
the initial medical response, including defibrillation as necessary;
and
``(3) consult with and counsel other Federal agencies where such
devices are to be used.
``(d) Date Certain for Establishing Guidelines and
Recommendations.--The Secretary shall comply with this section not later
than 180 days after the date of the enactment of the Cardiac Arrest
Survival Act of 2000.
``(e) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
`(1) The term `automated external defibrillator device' has the
meaning given such term in section 248.
``(2) The term `Federal building' includes a building or portion of
a building leased or rented by a Federal agency, and includes
buildings on military installations of the United States.''
Top of page
TVF&R AED Guide
TVF&R AED Home
SEC. 404. GOOD SAMARITAN PROTECTIONS REGARDING
EMERGENCY USE OF AUTOMATED EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATORS.
Part B of title II of the Public Health Service Act, as amended by
section 403, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 248. (a) Good Samaritan Protections Regarding AEDs.--Except as
provided in subsection (b), any person who uses or attempts to use an
automated external defibrillator device on a victim of a perceived
medical emergency is immune from civil liability for any harm resulting
from the use or attempted use of such device; and in addition, any
person who acquired the device is immune from such liability, if the
harm was not due to the failure of such acquirer of the device—
``(1) to notify local emergency response personnel or other
appropriate entities of the most recent placement of the device within
a reasonable period of time after the device was placed;
``(2) to properly maintain and test the device; or
``(3) to provide appropriate training in the use of the device to
an employee or agent of the acquirer when the employee or agent was
the person who used the device on the victim, except that such
requirement of training does not apply if—
``(A) the employee or agent was not an employee or agent who
would have been reasonably expected to use the device; or
``(B) the period of time elapsing between the engagement of the
person as an employee or agent and the occurrence of the harm (or
between the acquisition of the device and the occurrence of the
harm, in any case in which the device was acquired after such
engagement of the person) was not a reasonably sufficient period in
which to provide the training.
``(b) Inapplicability of Immunity.--Immunity under subsection (a)
does not apply to a person if—
``(1) the harm involved was caused by willful or criminal
misconduct, gross negligence, reckless misconduct, or a conscious,
flagrant indifference to the rights or safety of the victim who was
harmed;
``(2) the person is a licensed or certified health professional who
used the automated external defibrillator device while acting within
the scope of the license or certification of the professional and
within the scope of the employment or agency of the professional;
``(3) the person is a hospital, clinic, or other entity whose
purpose is providing health care directly to patients, and the harm
was caused by an employee or agent of the entity who used the device
while acting within the scope of the employment or agency of the
employee or agent; or
``(4) the person is an acquirer of the device who leased the device
to a health care entity (or who otherwise provided the device to such
entity for compensation without selling the device to the entity), and
the harm was caused by an employee or agent of the entity who used the
device while acting within the scope of the employment or agency of
the employee or agent.
``(c) Rules of Construction.—
``(1) In general.--The following applies with respect to this
section:
``(A) This section does not establish any cause of action, or
require that an automated external defibrillator device be placed at
any building or other location.
``(B) With respect to a class of persons for which this section
provides immunity from civil liability, this section supersedes the
law of a State only to the extent that the State has no statute or
regulations that provide persons in such class with immunity for
civil liability arising from the use by such persons of automated
external defibrillator devices in emergency situations (within the
meaning of the State law or regulation involved).
``(C) This section does not waive any protection from liability
for Federal officers or employees under—
``(i) section 224; or
``(ii) sections 1346(b), 2672, and 2679 of title 28, United
States Code, or under alternative benefits provided by the United
States where the availability of such benefits precludes a remedy
under section 1346(b) of title 28.
``(2) Civil actions under federal law.—
``(A) In general.--The applicability of subsections (a) and (b)
includes applicability to any action for civil liability described
in subsection (a) that arises under Federal law.
``(B) Federal areas adopting state law.--If a geographic area is
under Federal jurisdiction and is located within a State but out of
the jurisdiction of the State, and if, pursuant to Federal law, the
law of the State applies in such area regarding matters for which
there is no applicable Federal law, then an action for civil
liability described in subsection (a) that in such area arises under
the law of the State is subject to subsections (a) through (c) in
lieu of any related State law that would apply in such area in the
absence of this subparagraph.
``(d) Federal Jurisdiction.--In any civil action arising under State
law, the courts of the State involved have jurisdiction to apply the
provisions of this section exclusive of the jurisdiction of the courts
of the United States.
``(e) Definitions.—
``(1) Perceived medical emergency.--For purposes of this section,
the term `perceived medical emergency' means circumstances in which
the behavior of an individual leads a reasonable person to believe
that the individual is experiencing a life-threatening medical
condition that requires an immediate medical response regarding the
heart or other cardiopulmonary functioning of the individual.
``(2) Other definitions.--For purposes of this section:
``(A) The term `automated external defibrillator device' means a
defibrillator device that—
``(i) is commercially distributed in accordance with the
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act;
``(ii) is capable of recognizing the presence or absence of
ventricular fibrillation, and is capable of determining without
intervention by the user of the device whether defibrillation
should be performed;
``(iii) upon determining that defibrillation should be
performed, is able to deliver an electrical shock to an
individual; and
``(iv) in the case of a defibrillator device that may be
operated in either an automated or a manual mode, is set to
operate in the automated mode.
``(B)(i) The term `harm' includes physical, nonphysical,
economic, and non-economic losses.
``(ii) The term `economic loss' means any pecuniary loss
resulting from harm (including the loss of earnings or other
benefits related to employment, medical expense loss, replacement
services loss, loss due to death, burial costs, and loss of business
or employment opportunities) to the extent recovery for such loss is
allowed under applicable State law.
``(iii) The term `non-economic losses' means losses for physical
and emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment,
mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of
society and companionship, loss of consortium (other than loss of
domestic service), hedonic damages, injury to reputation and all
other nonpecuniary losses of any kind or nature.''.
Top of page
TVF&R AED Guide
TVF&R AED Home
Subtitle
B--Rural Access to Emergency Devices
SEC. 411. SHORT TITLE.
This subtitle may be cited as the ``Rural Access to Emergency Devices
Act'' or the ``Rural AED Act''.
SEC. 412. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.
(2) The American Heart Association estimates that 250,000 Americans
die from sudden cardiac arrest each year.
(3) A cardiac arrest victim's chance of survival drops 10 percent for
every minute that passes before his or her heart is returned to normal
rhythm.
(4) Because most cardiac arrest victims are initially in ventricular
fibrillation, and the only treatment for ventricular fibrillation is
defibrillation, prompt access to defibrillation to return the heart to
normal rhythm is essential.
(5) Lifesaving technology, the automated external defibrillator, has
been developed to allow trained lay rescuers to respond to cardiac
arrest by using this simple device to shock the heart into normal
rhythm.
(6) Those people who are likely to be first on the scene of a cardiac
arrest situation in many communities, particularly smaller and rural
communities, lack sufficient numbers of automated external
defibrillators to respond to cardiac arrest in a timely manner.
(7) The American Heart Association estimates that more than 50,000
deaths could be prevented each year if defibrillators were more widely
available to designated responders.
(8) Legislation should be enacted to encourage greater public access
to automated external defibrillators in communities across the United
States.
Top of page
TVF&R AED Guide
TVF&R AED Home
SEC. 413. GRANTS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting
through the Rural Health Outreach Office of the Health Resources and
Services Administration, shall award grants to community partnerships
that meet the requirements of subsection (b) to enable such partnerships
to purchase equipment and provide training as provided for in subsection
(c).
(b) Community Partnerships.--A community partnership meets the
requirements of this subsection if such partnership—
(1) is composed of local emergency response entities such as
community training facilities, local emergency responders, fire and
rescue departments, police, community hospitals, and local non-profit
entities and for-profit entities concerned about cardiac arrest
survival rates;
(2) evaluates the local community emergency response times to
assess whether they meet the standards established by national public
health organizations such as the American Heart Association and the
American Red Cross; and
(3) submits to the Secretary of Health and Human Services an
application at such time, in such manner, and containing such
information as the Secretary may require.
(c) Use of Funds.--Amounts provided under a grant under this section
shall be used—
(1) to purchase automated external defibrillators that have been
approved, or cleared for marketing, by the Food and Drug
Administration; and
(2) to provide defibrillator and basic life support training in
automated external defibrillator usage through the American Heart
Association, the American Red Cross, or other nationally recognized
training courses.
(d) Report.--Not later than 4 years after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall prepare
and submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report containing
data relating to whether the increased availability of defibrillators
has affected survival rates in the communities in which grantees under
this section operated. The procedures under which the Secretary obtains
data and prepares the report under this subsection shall not impose an
undue burden on program participants under this section.
(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated $25,000,000 for fiscal years 2001 through 2003 to carry out
this section.
Top of page
TVF&R AED Guide
TVF&R AED Home
|
