U.S. Senator Susan Collins announced today that Congress approved funding for a program she created with Russ Feingold (D-WI) to assist schools in purchasing and providing training on automated external defibrillators (AEDs). Collins and Feingold introduced an amendment to the Labor-Health and Human Services appropriations bill last month to fund the Automated Defibrillators in Adam’s Memory (ADAM) Act. The ADAM Act, which Feingold and Collins got signed into law in 2003, was inspired by Adam Lemel, a 17-year-old high school student from Wisconsin who collapsed and died from an undiagnosed heart condition while playing in a basketball game. The ADAM Act funds a national clearinghouse to help schools set up public programs that provide access to AEDs and provides schools with technical guidance and appropriate training.
“We have all heard stories of children suffering from cardiac arrest at school or during a sporting event, as well as instances where a school-age child is the first witness to a cardiac arrest or heart attack,” said Senator Collins. “Many of these victims’ lives could be saved if more people implemented the “Chain of Survival” which includes early CPR and defibrillation. The clearinghouse proposed in the ADAM Act will respond to the growing number of schools that have the desire to set up a public access defibrillation program, but often don’t know where to start.”
Collins is also hailing Congress for an increase in funding of the Rural AED program. This program, which the Senators got enacted several years ago, allows community partnerships across the country to receive a grant enabling them to purchase defibrillators, and receive the training needed to use these devices. At $2.5 million, the legislation will secure even more grants to help save lives in rural communities and train even more first responders to use these devices.
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