January 10, 2008­–LITTLE ROCK–State Senator Tracy Steele is proposing that every high school in Arkansas have automated external defibrillators (AEDs) available at school activities.

Steele made the proposal to the Joint Committees on Public Health, Welfare and Labor, the first step in the legislative process toward enacting a law that would require the defibrillators.

Steele says the plan could possibly save the lives of young people at sporting events and other school activities.

The proposal is in response to the death of Anthony Hobbs of Little Rock, a 17-year-old basketball player for Parkview High School. Hobbs collapsed during a game on January 2.

Hobbs was rushed to Baptist Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. Initial autopsy results showed abnormalities in the heart.

“We are deeply moved by a sense of loss when a young person dies unexpectedly,” Steele said. “In the case of Anthony Hobbs the tragedy is worsened by any number of factors. He was too young, he had a world of potential and he was truly admired and liked by those who knew him.”

“The idea of requiring defibrillators came to me as I was pondering the circumstances of Anthony’s death,” Steele said. “He collapsed and died just down the street from one of the finest medical facilities in the state, and he was taken there as soon as possible. But in those first critical moments his heart stopped.”

“For this to happen to Anthony Hobbs, within a stone’s throw of a major hospital, makes you realize just how critical are those initial seconds when the victim needs first aid,” Steele said.

“Unfortunately this kind of tragedy may happen again. When it does, unfortunately it almost certainly will happen a farther distance from a medical facility,” Steele said. “For that reason, it seems to me that automated external defibrillators should be something we can take for granted. They should be there when we need them, where we need them.”

The Public Health Committee is scheduled to meet on January 17 at the state Capitol. Steele said he’s confident his proposal would be on the committee agenda.

Source: Today’s THV.com