HB 22-1251

House Bill 22-1251, also known as the Cardiac Arrest Management Act, establishes an office within the Department of Public Health and Environment aimed at improving public access to defibrillators. This new office will collect data on cardiac arrests, run awareness campaigns, maintain a list of training programs for life-saving skills, and manage a registry that shows where defibrillators are located. The bill has been signed into law, meaning the state is now committed to implementing these measures with $200,000 allocated from the general fund for its initial operations in the 2022-23 fiscal year. This affects anyone who might need or use a defibrillator and those interested in learning life-saving skills related to cardiac emergencies.

Official Summary

The act creates the office of cardiac arrest management (office) in the department of public health and environment, the purpose of which is to promote the use of public access defibrillators and the use of registries so the public know where defibrillators can be found and used. The office is required to: Coordinate the collection of sudden cardiac arrest data, including outcome data from hospitals; Implement an outreach campaign to raise public awareness regarding sudden cardiac arrest; Maintain a list of training and education programs offered in this state to teach life-saving skills; Employ a statewide cardiac arrest data coordinator and other personnel as necessary; and Coordinate the submission of data to an automated external defibrillator registry. $200,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of public health and environment for use in the 2022-23 state fiscal year by the health facilities and emergency medical services division to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Votes