Rhode Island General Laws Title 16. Education § 16-21-33.1. Automatic external defibrillators

(1) Approximately three hundred twenty-five thousand (325,000) Americans suffer sudden cardiac arrest (“SCA”) each year and more than ninety-five percent (95%) of them die before reaching the hospital;

(2) In the population of Rhode Island, an estimated one thousand (1,000) residents will die of cardiac arrest every year;

(3) No official statistics have been gathered about SCA in children, however experts estimate about three hundred (300) deaths because of SCA every year for people under the age of twenty-one (21) or about one tenth of one percent (.001%);

(4) This means that at least one person under the age of twenty-one (21) years, most likely a student, will die due to athletics related SCA every year in Rhode Island;

(5) If defibrillation is performed within five (5) to seven (7) minutes, chances of survival are increased by forty-nine percent (49%). Every minute that goes by without defibrillation reduces the chance of survival by seven percent (7%) to ten percent (10%);

(6) Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are extremely accurate computerized devices that can be operated by the average person;

(7) AEDs are inexpensive and grants for AEDs are mostly given to nonprofit organizations, such as schools; and

(8) AEDs can be acquired through grants from various organizations or through government agencies.