As a New Jersey resident, Monmouth County health care professional and American Heart Association volunteer, I am writing to respectfully ask the support of our local media and New Jersey senators to help bring New Jersey Senate Bill S-1106 to the full Senate for a vote.
If passed, this legislation could – over time – save untold numbers of New Jersey lives by requiring all New Jersey health clubs and fitness centers to have automated external defibrillators (AEDs) on site, and staff properly trained to use the devices.
According to a study published in "Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association," health clubs/ fitness centers are among the top 10 public places with the highest occurrence of sudden cardiac arrest (sudden death), which is different than a heart attack. The American Heart Association has called sudden cardiac arrest a "major unresolved public health issue." At least 250,000 people in our country die every year from cardiac arrest. Few victims of cardiac arrest survive after 10 minutes.
The number of Americans who exercise regularly at fitness clubs has increased steadily in recent years, as has their age. In March 2002, a joint scientific statement from the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association urged fitness clubs throughout the country to install AEDs and train staff to use them. It’s time for all New Jersey health clubs and fitness centers to be better prepared for cardiac emergencies.
The American Heart Association is aware of at least five lives that have been saved in New Jersey during the past three years at health clubs and fitness centers equipped with an AED program. Those health clubs and fitness centers took the initiative to implement an AED program and should be applauded. But, they are in the minority in the garden state.
A companion bill – New Jersey Assembly Bill A-453 – was passed by the New Jersey Assembly in May 2002. Senate Bill S-1106 was passed by the Senate Health Committee and has awaited a full vote by the New Jersey Senate for more than a year.
I urge our local senators and the primary sponsors of S-1106, Senator Andrew Ciesla, Senator Shirley Turner and Senator John Adler, to place S-1106 on the agenda for a vote by the New Jersey Senate. Join with the American Heart Association to strengthen New Jersey’s "chain of survival" and improve the chance of survival from sudden cardiac arrest.
Robert J. Sposato
American Heart Association
Task Force volunteer
Monmouth County Operation Heartbeat