Bill Text: NC H502 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended

North Carolina House Bill 502 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Create Chain of Survival Task Force

Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-04-30 - Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate [H502 Detail]

Download: North_Carolina-2015-H502-Amended.html

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2015

H 1

HOUSE BILL 502

Short Title: Create Chain of Survival Task Force.		(Public)
Sponsors:	Representatives Carney, Stam, Adcock, and Hager (Primary Sponsors). For a complete list of Sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly Web Site.
Referred to:	Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House.

April 2, 2015

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT creating a chain of survival public‑private task force.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1. The General Assembly finds the following:

(1) According to the American Heart Association, an individual goes into cardiac arrest in the United States every two minutes. In North Carolina, twenty‑three percent (23%) of all deaths are attributed to heart disease, 11,765 of which are as a result of cardiac arrest. Ventricular Fibrillation (VF) is a common rhythm for which cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation are the only effective treatments. For victims with VF, survival rates are highest when immediate bystander CPR is provided and defibrillation occurs within three to five minutes of collapse. With every minute that passes, a victim's survival rate is reduced by seven percent (7%) to ten percent (10%) if no intervention measures are taken. An estimated ninety‑five percent (95%) of cardiac arrest victims die before reaching the hospital. If intervention measures are taken, survival rates are much higher; when CPR and defibrillation are immediately performed, survival rates can double.

(2) Eighty percent (80%) of all cardiac arrests occur in private or residential settings, and almost sixty percent (60%) are witnessed. Communities that have established and implemented public access defibrillation programs have achieved average survival rates for out‑of‑hospital cardiac arrest as high as forty‑one percent (41%) to seventy‑four percent (74%).

(3) Wider use of defibrillators could save as many as 40,000 lives nationally each year. Successful public access defibrillation programs ensure that cardiac arrest victims will have an immediate recognition of cardiac arrest and activation of 911 followed by early CPR with an emphasis on compressions, rapid Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) use, effective advanced care, and coordinated care afterward.

SECTION 2.(a) There is created a Chain of Survival Public‑Private Task Force (Task Force) with members appointed as follows:

(1) Two Senators appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

(2) Two members of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

(3) One representative of the Office of Emergency Medical Services designated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

(4) One representative of a local Emergency Medical Service designated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

(5) One representative of the Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Branch designated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

(6) The Secretary of Administration or the Secretary's designee, ex officio.

(7) A representative of the American Heart Association.

(8) A representative of the American Red Cross.

(9) A representative of the North Carolina Hospital Association.

(10) A representative of the American College of Cardiology.

(11) A representative of the College of Emergency Physicians.

(12) A cardiac arrest survivor designated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

SECTION 2.(b) The Task Force shall identify, pursue, and achieve funding for the placement of AEDs and training of State employees to recognize and initiate life‑saving actions to those experiencing an acute event (sudden cardiac arrest, heart attack, and stroke) in buildings and facilities that house State agencies, services, and institutions.

SECTION 2.(c) Members of the Task Force serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority.

SECTION 2.(d) The Task Force shall expire on June 30, 2017.

SECTION 3. This act is effective when it becomes law.