Posted by SCAFoundation on 06/07/2013

More than 1,000 people have signed a Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation petition urging the Food and Drug Administration not to reclassify AEDs as high-risk class III devices. Here are some of their comments:

  • “Had an AED been available to my son Louis, who passed away from sudden cardiac arrest, he would be alive today. As a result of his passing, Louis’ Law was passed in New York State requiring all public schools in NY to have an AED. To date, 64 lives have been saved because an AED was available.” Karen Acompora
  • “An AED saved my life. I would like others to have the same opportunity to live.” Peter Adams
  • “Please keep AEDs available and easy to use. Please redirect your mission into the creation of a public awareness campaign to encourage and support bystanders to save lives.” Scott Behrens
  • “I have had a family member saved from the use of an AED. I have also had a close friend die from the absence of an AED.” Rowan Brubaker
  • “I lost my eldest son to sudden cardiac arrest as he played football. Had an AED been readily available at the field, he life might have been saved.” Arista Burtrum
  • “You will be doing the public a great disservice by reclassifying AEDs to class III. Your job is to help the public, not ration healthcare devices. AEDs save lives and are safe to use. Why make access more costly and harder to get?” Mary Clarkson
  • “These new regulations will set back all the progress made so far in saving lives in the field.” John Cooke
  • “If it was not for the use of an AED used on my son, he would not be with us today. We are one of the lucky families.” Karen Daggy
  • “On April 12, 2012, the presence of a readily available AED saved my life. The value of these relatively cheap lifesavers is self-evident. Please do not do anything to reduce their availability.” Ronald Danner
  • “Please cut the red tape and let people live a little longer.” Praveedra Dhringa
  • “Due to an AED being available at the field at the public high school where Claire was playing softball, she was saved from SCA. Had there not been one there, she would not be with us today.” Patricia Dunlap
  • “I work with schools in Georgia and funding is always an issue. If the price of AEDs increases, we will have fewer in our schools.” Allison Ellison
  • “Five years ago I suffered sudden cardiac arrest in  my sleep. The combination of bystander CPR and an AED saved my life. My children, ages 8 and 6, came so close to not knowing me. Please don’t make it harder to save another life by reclassifying AEDs.” Kristin Hamelin
  • “I have used an AED along with CPR to save a life at my son’s Little League game,. It was awesome that the nearby Food Lion had an AED available so I could use it quickly before the rescue squad arrived.” Deborah Huffman
  • “I have used an AED to save a life. The more AEDs accessible to the public, the more lives will be saved.” Nicklas Gerstel
  • “AEDs are easy to use and made for non-medical personnel. The more available, the more lives saved.” Butch and Susie Gibbs
  • “Our 18-year-old daughter would not be with us today had an AED not been close at hand. For the cost, they are the most effective, easy to use first aid device in the world for saving lives.” David Lytle
  • “Is this the government trying to start population control?” Dustin MacFarlane
  • “Our 15-year-old son collapsed in SCA at a run where there was no AED on site. He was a conditioned athlete with no previous history. Had an AED been right there, Larry could be here with us today. Please ensure AEDs are readily available to the public." Evelyn and Larry Pontbriant
  • “Without a publicly accessible AED, my daughter would be dead. Instead, she is a healthy, happy 13-year-old with a lifetime ahead of her. Please enable other SCA victims to be saved as she was.” Sheryl Rajpolt
  • “An AED is neither a food nor a drug, so the FDA should have no say in how it is classified.” Brandon Ridge
  • “I lost my youngest son to sudden cardiac arrest simply because his school did not have the one tool the school nurse needed the day he collapsed on campus—an AED. AEDs need to be as common as fire extinguishers.” Robert Roy
  • “We have gone from 5% survival in 1999 to 10-11% survival today, all because AEDs are increasingly deployed. Don’t over-regulate AEDs!” James Scahill
  • “My son saved an individual with an AED. Ten years later, he is alive and well, and watching his children grow up.” Beth Strauss
  • “The problem is the failure of the owners to maintain, not the failure of the devices. Don’t blame the sidewalk for the death of the person who jumps from the 40th floor.” Robert Trenkamp
  • “I would not be typing this, if it were not for an AED.” Mark York

To sign the petition and add your comment, click here. All signatures will be delivered to the FDA before the June 24 commentary deadline.

 

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