A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS FOR A PILOT PROGRAM TO PURCHASE AND PLACE AUTOMATED EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATORS IN CERTAIN PUBLIC PLACES, AS RECOMMENDED BY THE HEART DISEASE AND STROKE PREVENTION TASK FORCE.
Whereas, sudden cardiac arrest kills approximately six hundred thousand individuals every year in the United States; and
Whereas, Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) offer the opportunity for lifesaving therapy to be given to individuals suffering cardiac arrest; and
Whereas, response time is critical, ten minutes or less, when someone is in cardiac arrest, thereby making it imperative that AEDs be placed in high pedestrian traffic public areas where they are easily accessible; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, the sum of seventeen thousand dollars ($17,000) for the 2005‑2006 fiscal year and the sum of six thousand dollars ($6,000) for the 2006‑2007 fiscal year.  These funds shall be used to pilot the placement of one Automated External Defibrillator (AED) in each of six public buildings or places where public usage is 300,000 or more visitors per year and the building or place does not currently have an operational AED in place.  In selecting pilot sites, the Department shall ensure geographic representation of the State.
Funds shall be used to purchase six AED units, conduct on‑site training at six sites, and conduct ongoing educational/awareness campaigns to the general public in the piloted counties. The Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Branch of the Division of Public Health will be responsible for the purchase of AEDs, training of pilot program participants, and evaluation of the pilot program. The Department shall report on the location, establishment and implementation of the pilot sites to the House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, the Senate Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services, and the Fiscal Research Division on or before March 1, 2006.
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2005.