American Heart Association Applauds Senate For Completing Double-Play Of Life-Saving Measures

2/7/2002

From: Kelly Kennai or Eric Bolton, 202-785-7900, both of the American Heart Association

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 -- The American Heart Association applauded the Senate today for taking a huge leap toward improving survival rates for sudden cardiac death and stroke, two of the nation's leading killers.

By unanimous vote, the Senate passed two pieces of legislation yesterday -- the Community Access to Emergency Defibrillation Act of 2001 (Community AED Act) and the Stroke Treatment and Ongoing Prevention Act of 2001 (STOP Stroke Act) --which address recognition of symptoms of acute cardiovascular events and emergency response to those events.

"The Senate has made a key double-play today. We applaud this bold action which will move us toward our goal of reducing disability and death from heart disease and stroke, our nation's number one and number three killers," said American Heart Association President David Faxon, M.D. "These measures will ensure that people who suffer a cardiac arrest or stroke will receive the most appropriate care as quickly as possible and will be given the best chances for survival."

Sudden cardiac arrest is a condition that occurs when the heart stops beating normally and can't pump blood through the body. Approximately 250,000 deaths occur from cardiac arrest each year. According to the American Heart Association, the best way to reduce cardiac arrest deaths is to implement a strong "chain of survival," a series of actions that include recognizing warning signs, an immediate call to 9-1-1, early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), early defibrillation and early advanced medical treatment. The Community AED Act will help strengthen the chain by making resources available to local communities to purchase and place automated external defibrillators (AEDs) -- life-saving devices that provide an electric shock that can stop an abnormal heart rhythm, allowing the normal heart rhythm to take over -- and implement public access defibrillation programs.

Stroke is caused by an interruption of blood flow to the brain due to a clogged blood vessel or bleeding from a ruptured blood vessel. Close to 600,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke in this country each year. About 160,000 of those people die. The STOP Stroke Act illustrates the importance of prevention, early intervention, and rehabilitation for stroke by authorizing resources to increase awareness of the disease as well as to improve the standard of stroke care across the country.

Bill Highlights: -- The STOP Stroke ACT (S.1274), sponsored by Sens. Edward Kennedy (D- Mass.) and Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) establishes a national public education campaign about stroke risk factors, signs, symptoms and treatment of stroke and a grant program to provide states with funding to help ensure that all stroke patients have prompt access to quality care. It also provides training opportunities for appropriate medical personnel in newly developed approaches for preventing and treating the disease and helps collect research to identify best practices, barriers and disparities, as well as measure the effectiveness of public awareness efforts. The legislation authorizes over $90 million for the first year.

-- The Community AED Act of 2001 (S.1275), was also sponsored by Senators Frist and Kennedy. It authorizes more than $55 million a year for five years for communities to establish public access defibrillation programs. These programs will help train and equip first responders; purchase and place AEDs in public places where cardiac arrests are likely to occur and encourage private companies in the community to also train and equip employees in CPR and emergency defibrillation. The Community AED Act also contains provisions from the Automatic Defibrillators in Adams Memory Act (ADAM Act) which was introduced by Sens. Russell Feingold (D-Wisc.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine). The ADAM Act provides schools with the guidance and resources necessary to set up public access defibrillation programs; helps ensure that schools have access to the appropriate training, fund-raising techniques, and other logistics required for successful programs; and enables communities to set up heart-screening programs for at-risk youth.

The bills were also introduced in the House of Representatives last year. The STOP Stroke Act (H.R.3431) was introduced by Reps. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) and Charles "Chip" Pickering, Jr. (R-Miss.) The Community AED Act (H.R.3462) was introduced by Capps and Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.).

"Together, these bills will enable Americans to recognize and respond to cardiac arrest or stroke. They will also help to equip our healthcare system with the resources and knowledge needed to treat and prevent these devastating diseases," said Faxon. "The American Heart Association appreciates the hard work of Senators Kennedy and Frist, who have been strong advocates for heart disease and stroke. We look forward to working with the House of Representatives and the Administration to ensure that these life-saving measures become law."