Proposed bill requires AEDs in senior centers, day cares

Date: 2/9/2009

By Ashlene Ferris

Staff Intern



SRINGFIELD State Rep. Cheryl A. Coakley-Rivera, House Chair of the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities, recently filed the Defibrillator Bill, requiring all agencies in the Commonwealth to have an automated external defibrillator (AED).

Public, vocational, technical and charter schools along with senior centers, Councils on Aging, elder care drop in centers and licensed child care centers will be required to have an AED -- a medical device used on a person experiencing heart failure -- with staff trained in its use.

"If you are a public care provider, you must be willing to provide the public with care and ensure their safety," Coakley-Rivera explained. "Simple as that."

She noted that the bill requires the AED present during normal school hours and all extra-curricular activities, including sports events.

Advocacy Director for the American Heart Association Allyson Perron said it is tremendous to have such strong advocates such as Coakley-Rivera.

"Springfield has chosen to place AEDs in their schools, and a young life was saved because of its availability . and it makes sense that in places where our most vulnerable population, seniors and children, congregate, they should also be mandatory," Perron said.

Lisa Rosenfeld, Department of Children and Families, said she is unsure how much the bill is going cost and how it is going to be funded. The bill has yet to be assigned to committee.

"We would love for the bill to pass quickl ... but there is no way of knowing how long that's going to take," she explained.