Lawmakers mull mandating defibrillator access at Michigan schools, athletic events

Lawmakers mull mandating defibrillator access at Michigan schools, athletic events
Michigan public schools would need to increase training, planning and access to defibrillators under legislation advancing in the state Legislature.

The bills would expand and extend training and planning mandates for school staff and school day functions and apply those expanded requirements to include athletic activities and, to the extent possible, ensure an automated external defibrillator is within a one-to-three minute distance from any cardiac emergency.

The bills, which passed 55-29 and 55-41 in the Michigan House on Tuesday, also would require any high school athletic coach, starting in the 2025-26 school year, to be trained in both CPR and the use of an AED.

"We are acknowledging the harsh reality that sudden cardiac arrest doesn't discriminate by age or physical fitness," said Rep. John Fitzgerald, D-Grand Rapids. "It can strike anyone anywhere at any time."

The bills head next to the Michigan Senate.

More than 90% of Michigan schools already have AEDs on site, but they're not required and response plans where AEDs are present vary from school to school, Fitzgerald said. The lawmaker said he was hopeful the state could help with the $1,500 cost per AED in a future budget.

Rep. Tyrone Carter, D-Detroit, said sudden cardiac arrest survival rates double or triple when bystanders intervene instead of waiting for emergency responders to arrive.

"While AEDs or portable devices are straightforward and easy to use, proper training on how to use the device appropriately in an emergency situation is necessary," Carter said from the House floor Tuesday.

The need is real, Fitzgerald argued in committee earlier this month, citing the death of an 18-year-old from Northwestern High School who went into cardiac arrest during a basketball game. The student was given CPR but the use of an AED was delayed and the student died a week later.

In 2011, a Fennville student hit a game-winning shot and was hoisted into the air in celebration when he went into cardiac arrest. The school's AED, which should have been nearby, was found in a storage room with a dead battery, Fitzgerald said.

In another incident, 18-year-old Alex Bowerson went into cardiac arrest at a high school wrestling practice in Memphis, Michigan, in December 2022. An ER nurse on site gave him CPR and used the school's AED to resuscitate him.

Bowerson told lawmakers in committee earlier this month that the device and someone trained in its use were essential to his survival, noting Memphis is a rural community where emergency services took about 15 minutes to arrive the day of his collapse.

"I would not be alive today if it was not for this AED and for someone who knew what to do," Bowerson said. "... These bills will save lives. They'll save young lives."

The legislation approved by the House Tuesday would require public schools by school year 2025-2026 to have a written cardiac emergency response plan that establishes a response team, how that team would be activated, routine maintenance of AEDs and routine training of personnel on CPR, first aid and AEDs. The bill would require AEDs to be placed in accessible locations, to be clearly marked and — to the extent possible — located within one-to-three minutes of any cardiac emergency.

The bills also prohibit public high schools, starting in 2025-26, from hiring athletic coaches if they do not maintain a valid certification in CPR and the use of an AED. It would protect athletic coaches from civil litigation for damages related to their use of an AED, unless the incident constituted "gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct."

The bill would require the Legislature to annually appropriate money to the Department of Education for the AEDs, but a nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency analysis noted lawmakers cannot mandate future appropriations. The bill contains language that schools, short of sufficient state funding, would not need to comply with the law.

Among the supporters of the legislation are the American Heart Association, the Michigan State Medical Society, the Department of Education and the Michigan Athletic Trainer's Society.