U.S. Senator Susan Collins announced today that Congress approved her request to designate a week “CPR/AED Week”. Senator Collins introduced the legislation in an effort to bring more exposure to the live-saving abilities of cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillators (AEDs). Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) cosponsored this request.
“Sudden cardiac arrest claims the lives of 400,000 Americans per year,” noted Senator Collins. “80 percent of these cases occur outside of the home, making the quick use of CPR and AEDs a matter of life an death in those situations.”
Collins recently was able to secure an increase in funding of the Rural AED program. This program, which Senator Collins helped create several years ago, allows community partnerships across the country to receive a grant enabling them to purchase defibrillators, and receive the training needed to use these devices. At $2.5 million, the legislation will secure even more grants to help save lives in rural communities and train even more first responders to use these devices.
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