The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education yesterday voted to set aside $2.5 million for the HRSA's Rural Access to Emergency Devices (AED) Program, thanks in large part to the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Coalition, including the American Heart Association, working with Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa.
Harkin's support for the funding was based in part on the personal testimony of Mari Ann Wearda, a sudden cardiac arrest survivor from Iowa.
This proposed funding level in the Subcommittee mark will restore this life-saving program to its FY 2010 level.
The President's 2012 budget had eliminated the program and HRSA had cut it back to $236,000 for 2011.
The Coalition will now be working to help ensure the $2.5 million is preserved.