Indiana law to require school corporations to have AEDs at all activities
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indiana Department of Education will begin sending out surveys to all schools in August to determine the number of defibrillators they should have on hand.
Earlier this summer, the Indiana General Assembly passed Senate Enrolled Act 369, which requires Automatic External Defibrillators to be present at all extracurricular activities, including band and drama classes.
“We just had a kid this past school year go into sudden cardiac arrest during school. We had enough AEDs in the building to where our (school resource officers) were able to administer CPR, slap the AED on, and save his life,” Andy Olson, Monrovia High School football coach, said.
The school’s athletic department also has AEDs present for all varsity and junior varsity practices.
“We’ve got a lot of AEDs and access (on campus at) Monrovia. The school corporation has done a really good job of that,” Head Athletic Trainer Brandy Crum said.
Julie West pushed lawmakers to pass the legislation after her son Jake, a football and lacrosse player in LaPorte, died from an undetected heart condition. Although the legislation took effect July 1, she says school districts could move faster in complying with the law.
“I can’t quite wrap my brain around why so many people are not seeing the importance of this and getting this in place,” West said.
Just this week, NBA star Lebron James’ 18-year-old son, Bronny, went into cardiac arrest on the basketball court at the University of Southern California.
Younger people suffering from heart conditions is not a trend that surprises Crum. “We have better screening tools, we have better education, so it’s not surprising we are catching more of those,” Crum said.
Senate Enrolled Act 369 also requires staff and teachers involved in extracurricular activities to be trained on how to use AEDS.