Cook County Board of Commissioners Passes Commissioner Miller’s Resolution Urging U.s. Congress to Pass the Access to AEDS Act
Cook County Board of Commissioners Passes Commissioner Miller’s Resolution Urging U.S. Congress to Pass the Access to AEDS Act (Cook County, IL) — On Thursday, the Cook County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution introduced by Commissioner Donna Miller urging the United States Congress to pass H.R.2370, the Access to AEDs Act. The bill, which already has bipartisan support in Congress and the backing of numerous medical associations and advocacy groups, is championed by Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin, who suffered a cardiac crisis during an NFL game in January.
“Earlier this year, the country witnessed just how important having trained professionals and proper equipment on hand to respond to a cardiac crisis is when Damar Hamlin collapsed in the middle of an NFL game. Cardiac crises can happen anywhere, and we need to ensure we’re prepared to respond regardless of where one occurs,” said Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller. “In Cook County, we have made real progress to expand CPR and AED training and access, but this work must also be done at the federal level. I’m proud that the Cook County Board unanimously approved this resolution to urge Congress to take commonsense, life-saving action and require AED accessibility in our schools.”
The Access to AEDs Act directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to elementary and secondary schools partnered with a nonprofit healthcare organization to develop and implement a comprehensive program to promote defibrillation access. Currently, only 23 states have AED school requirements, with varying degrees of specificity regarding mandates on whether public schools, private schools, or both must have AEDs on campus and provide the necessary training on their use.
Since she first took office in 2019, Commissioner Miller has made it a priority to use her background in the healthcare industry to educate residents on the risks of cardiovascular disease, how to prevent it, and how to improve outcomes of cardiac events through CPR training. To help improve outcomes for those with heart disease, Commissioner Miller helped implement in-person CPR and AED training and virtual CPR and AED training for Cook County employees, an initiative that won a 2022 National Association of Counties Achievement Award. To date, hundreds of employees along with elected officials and department heads have taken part in the training, including the Cook County Board President and staff, members of the Board of Commissioners and staff, and executives and staff from agencies of separately elected officials and Cook County Health. Commissioner Miller has also released a report titled “Cardiovascular Health in the Southland,” which examined the impacts of location and race on cardiovascular disease survival and outcomes in suburban Cook County.
CPR/AED training is particularly important for African Americans and Hispanics, who are 30-50% less likely to have bystander CPR performed when suffering from a cardiac event than white adults. Women are also less likely to receive bystander CPR because people fear accusations of inappropriate touching, sexual assault, or injuring the person, with only 39% of women receiving bystander CPR in public compared to 45% of men and men’s chances of surviving a cardiac event are 23% higher than women. Having CPR initiated by a bystander when someone is suffering from cardiac arrest can almost double or triple the chances of survival.
Cook County Board of Commissioners Passes Commissioner Miller’s Resolution Urging U.s. Congress to Pass the Access to AEDS Act
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