COLUMBUS, Ohio — According to the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation, SCA strikes people of all ages who may seem to be healthy, even children and teens.
Survival depends on people nearby calling 911, starting CPR and using an automated external defibrillator as soon as possible.
SCA, the foundation says, is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. Approximately 356,000 people of all ages experience EMS-assessed out-of-hospital non-traumatic SCA each year and nine out of 10 victims die.
When bystanders intervene immediately by giving CPR, survival rates double or triple.
Jennifer Dunaway, a soccer mom from Groveport, has tried since 2021 to get a law passed that would mandate AEDs in all Ohio schools to no avail.
So she carries one with her to all her kids soccer games just in case.
An AED was used on Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin after he was hurt while trying to tackle Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins.
“That's exactly why I carry an AED with me all the time, I will not be a bystander in that situation,” she says.
An AED is about the size of lunch box. When the power button is pushed a voice begins to walk the user through how to use it. There are AED’s just for children and there are ones that work both for children and adults.
In Ohio, House Bill 462 was created to solve the issue of mandating AEDs in schools. Already, Ohio had mandated the parents and coaches understand the symptoms of SCA and create actions plans on how to use AEDs but it never mandated the lifesaving tool at school.
“So why would you require all this information and meeting before the season starts that requires to have this plan if you don't have a requirement to have AED that you need to save a life machines in schools?,” says Representative Richard Brown, D-Canal Winchester.
Brown says after what happened on Monday night in Cincinnati, he plans to reintroduce his bill this session with the hope lawmakers act.
Dunaway says she won’t stop promoting their use until a law is passed.
“If there is only one way to reduce the catastrophic effects of sudden cardiac arrest then that's what I'm going to do,” she said.
You can read more about the legislation here.