H.B. 965 78(R) BILL ANALYSIS H.B. 965 By: Mercer Public Health Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Each year more than 250,000 adults suffer cardiac arrest, and more than 95 percent of those adults die, in many cases because defibrillation occurs too late to reverse the cardiac arrest. For every minute that passes before returning the heart to a normal rhythm after cardiac arrest, as one would do by delivering an electric shock to the heart using an automated external defibrillator (AED), the chance of survival is decreased by 10 percent. Last year, Houston became the first major city in the nation to develop a plan for the placement of AEDs in its municipal facilities, and the American Heart Association advocates the placement of AEDs in public buildings in order to increase the cardiac arrest survival rate. HB 965 directs the Texas Department of Health in consultation with the Texas Education Agency to develop a plan for the placement of AEDs in High School Buildings RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS This Bill requires the Texas Department of Health (department), in consultation with the Texas Education Agency, to conduct a study regarding the purchase and placement of automated external defibrillators in public high school buildings. In addition the bill requires the department to estimate the extent to which placing automated external defibrillators in public high school buildings would improve the survival rate of individuals who experience sudden cardiac arrest. The bill also requires the department in consultation with the Texas Education Agency to study certain other stated factors concerning the placement of automated external defibrillators in public high school buildings. The department is required to report the results of its study together with any recommendations of the department or Texas Education Agency to the Governor and the presiding officers of each house of the legislature not later than November 1, 2004. Provides that this Act expires June 1, 2005. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2003.