New Jersey congressman Frank Pallone has introduced legislation aimed at improving the odds of survival for student-athletes who suffer sudden cardiac arrest.
According to CBS News, Pallone was joined Monday at Edison High School where he introduced the legislation by two families who have lost kids to sudden cardiac arrest.
The proposed legislation would require the CDC and other agencies to create emergency response plans for schools, including guidelines on CPR training and the placement of life-saving automated external defibrillators – also known as AEDs.
"Using a defibrillator and starting CPR within minutes of cardiac arrest, your chances of survival increase anywhere from 50 percent to 70 percent," said Joanne Babbitt, who lost her son John at the age of 16 to sudden cardiac arrest while he was playing basketball.
Parents would also be given risk assessment sheets to see if their children have any symptoms requiring more testing.
"It can be as small as no appetite. A week or so before this happened, Kittim was telling us he couldn't eat," said Razeenah Walker who lost her grandson Kittim Sherod so heart failure while he was running track off campus. "He couldn't sleep. He didn't feel well."
An estimated 2,000 young people under the age of 25 die each year of sudden cardiac arrest, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Pallone said he has bipartisan support and hopes the bill becomes law next year.
