by Nicole Piscitani, deputy director of legislative services • July 19, 2024
House Bill (HB) 47, which requires the placement of automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) in public schools and chartered nonpublic schools, moved through the legislative process after being stalled in the Senate Health Committee for several months. The Ohio House passed HB 47 in June 2023, and the Senate quickly referred the bill to the Senate Health Committee. However, due to the legislature’s 2023 summer recess, committee hearings were delayed until the fall. The bill received two hearings but appeared to be stalled in committee. Surprisingly, after six months of no activity, the Senate Health Committee not only scheduled a third hearing but passed the bill out of committee. Senate leadership continued the unexpected activity by voting it out of the Senate the same day that it passed out of committee. Ultimately, the bill passed out of the Ohio General Assembly on June 26, and Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill on July 23. The bill goes into effect immediately.
The bill amends the Ohio Revised Code (RC) to require that public schools place AEDs in all buildings. Previous RC language only authorized a school district to require the placement of an AED in each school building. The bill also requires that school districts incorporate AED training into in-service training, and the following employees are required to participate in that training:
- teachers;
- principals;
- administrative employees;
- coaches;
- athletic trainers;
- other persons who supervise interscholastic athletics;
- any other employee subject to in-service training requirements under continuing law.
Additionally, the bill requires that each district and school adopt an emergency action plan for using AEDs. The bill also requires that the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) create a model plan that is permissible for school districts to use. School districts are not mandated to use the model policy. One important note: The bill requires that ODH’s model plan include a requirement stating that the district’s and school’s model emergency action plan must be practiced at least quarterly.
Finally, the bill amends RC language from being permissive to requiring that school districts and youth sports organizations hold informational meetings before the start of each athletic season regarding the symptoms and warning signs of sudden cardiac arrest for all ages of students or youth athletes. ODH must develop a reporting process for violations of existing RC protocols for recognizing sudden cardiac arrest in student and youth athletes. Those protocols are below:
- Each student and youth athlete, before participating in an athletic activity, must submit a signed form indicating their review of sudden cardiac arrest guidelines.
- A student or youth athlete must be evaluated and cleared by specified health professionals before participation if (a) certain family members have experienced sudden cardiac arrest or (b) the student or athlete is known to have exhibited syncope or fainting at any time before or following an athletic activity.
- A coach must remove a student or youth athlete from participation if the student or athlete exhibits syncope or fainting, and the student or athlete cannot return to participation until evaluated and cleared by a specified health professional.
- An individual may not coach an athletic activity unless the individual has completed an annual sudden cardiac arrest training course approved by ODH.