Former East Carolina University track athlete Hailey Yentz went 10 minutes without a pulse after collapsing in a campus weight room before athletic trainers revived her with four shocks from an automated external defibrillator.
“What most of us aren’t usually thinking about when we walk into a building is that the people around us and the equipment in that building could determine whether we live or die,” Yentz said.
On Wednesday, Yentz joined lawmakers and medical professionals at the Legislative Building in Raleigh to support legislation that would require AEDs in North Carolina public schools.
The House has passed its version of the legislation, the Rep. Becky Carney Cardiac Arrest Act, by a 111-1 vote with bipartisan support. The bill would require at least one automated external defibrillator, or AED, in every public school, and mandate CPR and defibrillator training for school personnel.
The bill is named after Rep. Becky Carney (D-Mecklenburg) whose life was saved by an AED after she collapsed inside the Legislative Building in 2009.
A separate Senate bill, S278, goes even further. It would require schools to develop cardiac emergency response plans, set up response teams, hold annual drills and coordinate with local emergency medical providers. It would also require AEDs to be placed so they can be reached and used within three minutes. It has not yet had a hearing.
Advocates also are seeking $2 million in the state budget to help schools purchase AEDs and train school staff.
A North Carolina Department of Public Instruction survey from the 2023-24 school year found gaps in AED coverage across the state. Emma Kate Burns, government relations director for the American Heart Association in North Carolina, said the survey found 99% of schools reported having at least one AED, but five counties reported at least one school without a device.
Supporters pointed to cardiac arrests in schools during that same school year as evidence of the need for the legislation. They cited data from the AHA that showed 13 cardiac arrests on North Carolina school campuses; six involved children, and one was fatal.
“It didn’t make sense to me that we didn’t have defibrillators in every public school,” said Rep. William Gable (R-Onslow) a primary sponsor of the House bill.
Setting politics aside, NC lawmakers approve bill to increase survival from cardiac arrest
Denny Kellington, the Carolina Panthers athletic trainer who performed CPR on Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin after Hamlin’s on-field cardiac arrest in 2023, said the funding request is a small cost compared with the consequences for families.
“I don’t think that should be considered when you’re able to rescue a kid,” said Kellington. “ You don’t want to be able to go talk to a parent and say, ‘Oh, we wish we had an AED available, but we got caught up in the red tape.’”
Sara Council, lead school nurse for the Roanoke Rapids Graded School District, said her district expanded AED access after a middle school student died from cardiac arrest during recess a few years ago. The district now keeps AEDs in every building and trains staff alongside local emergency responders.
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