ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – Governor Kathy Hochul signed a new law requiring camps and youth sports programs to plan for automated external defibrillators, also known as AEDs.
“Automated external defibrillators are key to extending our ability to care for patients arrested in the field,” explained Dr. Mandeep Sidhu, American Heart Association Capital Region President. “What we’re trying to do is shorten the chain of survival from getting patients from the scene to the emergency room to the hospital.”
AEDs are already in schools, but a new law signed by Governor Hochul on Friday requires camps and youth sports programs to also plan to have AEDs installed.
“They need to include in their plan that someone is trained and they have a checklist of equipment,” explained the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Shelley Meyer. “But there is no hard and fast deadline. If we can, we want to raise money to help those who can’t afford it and work to ensure that every child and every sports organization has access to it.” I am.”
Bill Smith, New York State Softball District 7 Youth Commissioner, said he supports the bill and would like to see funding allocated for AEDs.
“These machines aren’t cheap,” Smith said. “But at the end of the day, saving lives has nothing to do with money.
U.S. Sen. Shelley Meyer, who represents a downstate district, has been working for years to sign the bill after two constituents were saved by an AED at a sporting event. However, this law was signed several years later.
“Damar Hamlin of the Buffalo Bills was there, and I was watching as a Bills fan that day, and everyone was holding their breath,” Meyer recalled.
Back in January, Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest during a football game in Cincinnati. The quick actions of an athletic trainer saved his life.
“My journey has shown me that no one expects cardiac arrest to occur, and we all need to be prepared,” Hamlin said in a statement.