Sherrod Brown: “Madam Speaker, heart disease kills more Americans than any other condition. Nearly a quarter of a million Americans die…”

“Madam Speaker, heart disease kills more Americans than any other condition. Nearly a quarter of a million Americans die from cardiac arrest every year. The American Heart Association, which supports this resolution, estimates that with widespread access to and use of defibrillation, 50,000 of those lives could be saved every year. We are starting to see real success in ensuring that there are defibrillators in major public places in this country. In Summit County, in my district, a successful effort led by Dr. Terry Gordon has resulted in public defibrillators in all of the county's 59 middle schools and high schools, and in 23 other public buildings, coverage that probably is unprecedented in the United States. As these efforts continue, we are making strides towards public access defibrillation in all major public venues, in schools and sports arenas, in large hotels, in concert halls, in high-rise buildings, in gated communities and high-security companies. Currently, 60 percent of heart attacks take place in venues like these outside of hospitals, and the survival rate for these attacks is only around 5 percent. Public access to defibrillation programs provide defibrillators to facilities and train nonmedical personnel in how to use a defibrillator. If administered within 3 minutes of a victim collapsing from cardiac arrest, a defibrillator can increase the patient's survival rate, it is estimated, by 70 percent.”