U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will bring the lifesaving HEARTS Act, which he and Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin have worked together on for months, to the Senate floor this week for a unanimous consent vote to be passed into law. Schumer and Hamlin are now launching their final push to show why all should support this bipartisan legislation to help schools and students be prepared to respond to cardiac emergencies by making AEDs and CPR training more accessible across America.
“For months, Damar, the Buffalo Bills and I have worked together on bipartisan legislation to make CPR training accessible and put AEDs in schools across America, and now we are on the one-yard line. This week I will bring the lifesaving HEARTS Act to the Senate floor to be passed into law,” said Leader Schumer. “Damar has used his voice and turned his inspirational story of recovery into a mission to help millions of children. This legislation goes beyond the field and stretches thousands of miles outside Buffalo. Let’s get the HEARTS Act into the end zone and bring AEDs to schools across America. This bipartisan legislation will save lives, and everybody should support it.”
“Since experiencing cardiac arrest, I’ve been honored to work with partners who understand how important it is to provide CPR education and have access to AEDs to save lives,” said Damar Hamlin, Buffalo Bills safety, member of the NFL Smart Heart Sports Coalition and National Ambassador for the American Heart Association’s Nation of Lifesavers movement. “I’m very grateful to Senator Schumer for his work making this common-sense legislation a priority. My journey has shown us that no one expects cardiac arrest to happen – and we all need to be prepared. Working together, we have the chance now to protect kids and impact the next generation. I hope that every Senator will lend their support for this bill and that my experience with cardiac arrest will help lead to lasting change. Let’s get this done.“
When Hamlin went into cardiac arrest during an NFL game in January 2023, the Bills medical team used an AED and performed CPR, saving Hamlin’s life. Since then Hamlin has used his miraculous and inspirational recovery story to help kids across the country, working with Schumer to create a new federal program that will help put more AEDs in schools. Now Majority Leader Schumer will bring that legislation to the floor this week and launch his push to garner the final support needed to ensure it can become law.
Schumer said that the bipartisan Cardiomyopathy Health Education, Awareness, Research and Training in Schools (HEARTS) Act, which the U.S. House of Representatives passed earlier this year, would provide direct grants to elementary and secondary schools. The bill would create a grant program at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to support CPR and automated external defibrillator (AED) training, in addition to supporting the purchase of AEDs and the development of cardiac emergency response plans, which can more than double survival rates from cardiac arrest by empowering people nearby to dial 911, start CPR and use an AED.
Schumer explained that in schools with AEDs, children who experience cardiac arrest are seven times as likely to survive as children in schools without AEDs. Schumer also highlighted the importance of CPR training for students and adults in schools, saying that for every minute without CPR, chances of survival drop by 10%. With more people confident in their ability to perform CPR, people experiencing cardiac arrest will get the care they need more quickly.
“Over the past two years, we have worked tirelessly to make AEDs and CPR training more accessible in our community. Through our initiatives, we have supported the training of over one hundred thousand community members, empowering each of them with the knowledge and confidence to act in an emergency. Grants to schools for AEDs will ensure that students, staff, and families have access to critical resources when every second counts. Our team has experienced first-hand the impact of these life-saving measures with Damar Hamlin and Kim Pegula. This bill will make Western New York, and communities around the country safer, and ultimately save lives,” said Terry Pegula, Bills Owner/CEO/President.
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