Section 23-6.5-1 - [Effective 9/1/2024] Legislative findings(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) Health care facilities, as well as facilities that host large numbers of visitors , are more likely to experience an event that requires an automated external defibrillator ("AED");(4) 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%);(5) Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are extremely accurate computerized devices that can be operated by the average person; and(6) Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) can be acquired through grants from various organizations or through government agencies.R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-6.5-1
Amended by 2024 Pub. Laws, ch. 388,§ 2, eff. 9/1/2024.Amended by 2024 Pub. Laws, ch. 389,§ 2, eff. 9/1/2024.Added by 2017 Pub. Laws, ch. 388, § 1, eff. 10/5/2017.Added by 2017 Pub. Laws, ch. 433, § 1, eff. 10/5/2017.This section is set out more than once due to postponed, multiple, or conflicting amendments.