42 U.S.C. § 244 — Public access defibrillation programs

(a) In general. The Secretary can award grants to states, political subdivisions of states, Indian tribes, and tribal organizations. The grants help them build "public access defibrillation" programs, which can include: training and equipping local emergency responders (like firefighters, police, paramedics, and EMTs) to give immediate care, including CPR and automated external defibrillation, to people in cardiac arrest; buying automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and placing them in public places where cardiac arrests are likely, and training people there to use CPR and the AEDs; setting up procedures to maintain and test the devices, following the manufacturer's guidelines; training members of the public in CPR and AED use; connecting the local emergency medical system with these programs, so dispatchers and responders know where AEDs are located; and encouraging private companies, including small businesses, to buy AEDs and train their employees in CPR and AED use. (b) Preference. When choosing who gets a grant, the Secretary gives preference to an applicant that either has an especially low local survival rate for cardiac arrests or an especially low response rate for cardiac arrest victims, or that shows the strongest commitment to building and keeping up a public access defibrillation program. (c) Use of funds. A grant recipient can use the money to: buy AEDs approved or cleared by the FDA; provide CPR and AED training through nationally recognized courses; tell the community about the program; tell the local emergency medical system where AEDs are placed; make materials to encourage private companies, including small businesses, to buy AEDs; set up an information clearinghouse — run by an organization with real expertise in pediatric education, pediatric medicine, and sudden cardiac death — to help schools get better access to defibrillation; and develop other strategies to improve access to AEDs in public places. (d) Application. To get a grant, an applicant must submit an application to the Secretary, in the form and with the information the Secretary reasonably requires. The application must: describe the full public access defibrillation program the grant would fund, and show how it would make defibrillation available to cardiac arrest victims in the community; explain how the applicant will use nationally recognized courses to train people in CPR and AED use; explain how a licensed medical professional will be directly involved, and how the applicant will coordinate with the local emergency medical system to oversee training and report AED use; explain how the AEDs will be properly maintained and tested, following the manufacturer's labeling; explain how local emergency medical personnel, including dispatchers, will be told where the AEDs are and what type they are; and explain how the applicant will collect data on whether the program is improving survival rates for cardiac arrest outside hospitals. (e) Authorization of appropriations. Congress authorized $25,000,000 a year for this program, for each fiscal year from 2003 through 2014. No more than 10% of the money a grant recipient gets can go toward administrative expenses.