Bohac, Castro File Bill to Require AEDs in Nursing Homes

AUSTIN - More than 250,000 Americans die every year from sudden cardiac arrest. The American Heart Association estimates that public access to Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), which can diagnose and treat certain life threatening heart conditions, could save as many as 50,000 Americans each year.

Because a number of heart-related deaths occur in nursing homes, state Representatives Dwayne Bohac (R-Houston) and Joaquin Castro (D-San Antonio) have authored and filed HB 392 which will require nursing homes to have AEDs available. Current law does not have this requirement.

“These machines require very little training, are extremely affordable, and most importantly they save lives,” Bohac said. “Requiring them in nursing homes is just common sense.”

An AED is a piece of equipment about the size of a small brief case that uses sensor pads to analyze a patient’s heartbeat. If abnormalities are detected, the device delivers a shock to treat the patient’s heart and help prevent death.

The first generation of AEDs weighed nearly 100 pounds. Today, they weigh less than 8 pounds and can be stored and transported easily.

“During the last legislative session we passed a bill requiring Automatic External Defibrillators in high schools. Just last month, Barry Poth, a high school football coach in Bexar County, was saved by one of these machines,” Castro said. “I would like to see these life-saving results duplicated in our nursing homes.”

Bohac and Castro began drafting the legislation late this year after constituents in their districts approached them and demonstrated that AEDs are effective and affordable. Research has shown that twice as many people have survived sudden cardiac arrest with lay, citizen responders using the life-saving equipment. The devices cost on average $1,000 to $3,000.

After surveying area nursing homes, Martha Coleman and Judy Moore, graduate students at the UTMB (University of Texas Medical Branch) School of Nursing and nurse managers at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, found that many facilities do not have AEDs. While nursing homes would be responsible for purchasing the equipment under HB 392, research has shown that an AED used just once in five years offers tremendous quality of life and monetary benefits to patients and nursing homes. Patients who have access to AEDs are more likely not to suffer the effects of oxygen deprivation during a heart attack, reducing not only their suffering but saving tens of thousands of dollars in medical costs.

In other words, the potential savings to patients and to families far outweigh the initial cost of the device, and patients can avoid suffering the physical effects of oxygen deprivation while waiting for other means of resuscitation.

“I am very grateful to Martha Coleman and Judy Moore for doing the legwork and bringing this opportunity to my attention,” Bohac said. “I have more than a dozen nursing homes in and around my district that would greatly benefit from these life-saving devices. Both of these women should receive credit if we can pass this bill.”