Volunteer urges passage of AED legislation

As a New Jersey resident, Monmouth County health care professional and American Heart Association volunteer, I am asking the local media and N.J. senators to help bring Bill S-1106 to the full Senate for a vote.

If passed, this legislation could, over time, save an untold number of lives by requiring all New Jersey health clubs and fitness centers to have automated external defibrillators (AEDs) on site, and staff properly trained to use the devices.

According to a study published in "Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association," health clubs and fitness centers are among the top 10 public places with the highest occurrence of sudden cardiac arrest (sudden death), which is different than a heart attack.

The American Heart Association has called sudden cardiac arrest a major, unresolved, public health issue. At least 250,000 people in our country die every year from cardiac arrest. Few victims of cardiac arrest survive after 10 minutes.

The number of Americans who exercise regularly at fitness clubs has increased steadily in recent years, as has the average age.

In March 2002, a joint scientific statement from the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association urged fitness clubs throughout the country to install AEDs and train their staff to use them. It’s time for all New Jersey health clubs and fitness centers to be better prepared for cardiac emergencies.

The American Heart Association is aware of at least five lives that have been saved in New Jersey during the past three years at health clubs and fitness centers equipped with an AED program. Those health clubs and fitness centers took the initiative to implement an AED program and should be applauded, but they are in the minority in the Garden State.

A companion bill, A-453, was passed by the Assembly in May 2002. Bill S-1106 was passed by the Senate Health Committee and has been waiting for a full vote by the Senate for more than a year. I urge our local senators and the primary sponsors of S-1106, Sen. Andrew Ciesla, Sen. Shirley Turner and Sen. John Adler, to place it on the agenda for a vote by the state Senate.

Join with the American Heart Association to strengthen New Jersey’s "chain of survival" and improve the chances of survival from sudden cardiac arrest.

Robert J. Sposato

American Heart Association

Task Force volunteer

Operation Heartbeat