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State AED Legislation - Good Samaritan Table
State Laws on Cardiac Arrest & Defibrillators
Visit the following website for a comprehensive list of the State Requirements for Defibrillators to:
http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/laws-on-cardiac-arrest-and-defibrillators-aeds.aspx
Encouraging or requiring community access and use
Each year, more than 250,000 Americans die from sudden cardiac arrest. According to medical experts, the key to survival is timely initiation of a "chain of survival", including CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation). Because of recent technological advances a portable lifesaving device, called an "automated external defibrillator" or "AED" has recently become an important medical tool. Trained non-medical personnel can use these simplified electronic machines to treat a person in cardiac arrest. The AED device "guides the user through the process by audible or visual prompts without requiring any discretion or judgment."1 The American Heart Association notes that at least 20,000 lives could be saved annually by prompt use of AEDs. Ultimately, with broad deployment of AEDs among trained responders, as many as 50,000 deaths due to sudden cardiac arrest could be prevented each year.