You’ve probably heard of Damar Hamlin, who as starting safety for the Buffalo Bills has helped his team to a 3-1 record to start the National Football League season. Damar survived cardiac arrest during a Monday Night Football game in January 2023, with more than 60,000 people watching in person and more 23 million coordinated.
You’ve probably never heard of Joshua Pierce. Ten years ago, when Joshua was fourteen, he went into cardiac arrest while playing a high school football game in Ozark, Arkansas. A sold out venue? Hardly. A national TV crew? Not quite.
Yet Damar and Joshua both live for the same reason: within seconds, people sprang into action to administer CPR, use an automated external defibrillator (AED) and provide other life-saving care. Bills team trainers and doctors treated Damar inside 10 seconds after his collapse and within five minutes an ambulance was on the field. In Joshua’s case, four nurses ran down from the stands to perform CPR, a coach grabbed a portable defibrillator, an ambulance took him to a medical center and a helicopter airlifted him to a children’s hospital.
As Joshua says, “Without the heroic actions of spectators, coaches and teammates, “I wouldn’t be here today.”
That’s the message the American Heart Association—along with cardiac arrest survivors, families who have lost a loved one to cardiac arrest, and advocates across the country—is delivering as we urge Congress to pass bipartisan legislation to ensure ensuring students and staff in schools across the country are prepared for cardiac emergencies. The House has done its part: Lawmakers passed Cardiomyopathy last week Health Education, Awareness, Research, and Training in Schools (HEARTS) Act. by voice vote. A similar bill, the Access to AEDs Acthas bipartisan support in the Senate but has stalled in committee. Now the Senate must do its job and get this bill across the finish line before Congress adjourns at the end of the year.
In the United States, 90% of over 350,000 people who suffer cardiac arrest outside a hospital every year do not survive the event. With the right resources, training and plans, schools can help dramatically change these odds. That’s where the HEARTS Act and the Access to AEDs Act come into the picture. These bipartisan bills would create a federal grant program to support CPR and AED training for students, staff and sports volunteers, while helping schools purchase AEDs and develop emergency response plans.
Cardiac arrest – when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops pumping – affects between 7,000 and 23,000 young people under the age of 18 outside a hospital every year. Student athletes are 3.5 times more likely to suffer cardiac arrest than non-athletes. Cardiac emergency response plans, including calling 911 immediately and quickly administering CPR and an AED, are essential components of the chain of survivalwhich can mean the difference between life and death during those critical first moments before emergency medical personnel arrive. For every minute without CPRchances of survival drop by 10%. But having a cardiac emergency plan can more than double your chances of survival. About 70% of children survive cardiac arrest in schools with AEDs.
Thirteen states – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia – passed legislation this year requiring schools to develop cardiac emergency response plans. Several other states are poised to follow suit. The Smart Heart Sports Coalitionwhich was launched by the NFL and whose founding members are the American Heart Association, is working to implement this life-saving policy in all states. Legislation from Congress will strengthen state efforts to ensure that schools have adequate resources to implement these plans and acquire the necessary resources to respond to a cardiac emergency. The legislation will save lives – but the Senate must follow the House’s lead and pass it.
After his cardiac arrest, Damar Hamlin is playing NFL football again and even securing his first career interception. Ten years after the collapse on the football field, Joshua Pierce is married, works for a local bank and leads a healthy life. Joshua’s charge to Congress is clear: “Congress must make sure that people in schools across the country know what to do if someone goes into cardiac arrest, like me.”
Wise words from a young man who has been given the gift of life. I urge Congress to listen and act.
Nancy Brown is CEO of the American Heart Association.