States Set to Pass Laws Limiting Liability for Lay Users of Automated External Defibrillators

Individual states appear ready to pick up the torch for limiting the liability of lay users of automated external defibrillators (AEDs), even though hopes for a national law were extinguished in the last congressional session. The Cardiac Arrest Survival Act that was introduced in the last Congress is being revamped before it is reintroduced, said Pat Bowser, who coordinates the public access defibrillation program of the American Heart Association.But states appear to be passing their own laws without the impetus of federal legislation, said Bowser. “There is going to be a group pulled together in the next couple of months to look at it (federal legislation) to see if it is needed and to see how it might be structured to be effective. The group will also try to determine if there is really a need for federal regulation around this issue,” she said.Currently, a coalition with the AHA as the primary driving force is pushing for laws with certain basic requirements and protections, she said. The model legislation that the coalition is proposing requires the following: