Obama Proposes Eliminating Funds for Rural and Community AED Program
A victim’s chance of surviving sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) more than doubles with immediate CPR and early defibrillation with an AED. Many rural areas and small communities cannot make the investment needed to protect their citizens from SCA. The federal government’s Rural and Community Access to Emergency Devices Program can help those communities, but President Obama has proposed eliminating funding for this program. The Rural and Community AED Program helps rural areas and small communities by providing competitively awarded grants that allow states to purchase automated external defibrillators (AEDs), train lay rescuers and first responders in their use, and place them in public areas where sudden cardiac arrests are likely to occur.