Illinois Mandates AEDs and Trained Staff for All Fitness & Sports Facilities.



USA: today announced it supports Governor Rod Blagojevich's signed legislation that mandates Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in indoor and outdoor physical fitness and sports facilities. Not only does this mandate AEDs, it also requires that trained staff be present during all physical fitness activities held at or in the facility.

The legislation states that an AED must be stored in an accessible building within 300 feet of an outdoor facility. If there is not a building within 300 feet, a supervisor must ensure that an AED is available during the entire event activity. The law also requires that all covered indoor and outdoor physical fitness facilities have a trained AED user present during fitness activities.

The bill also outlines the timetable for all privately own facilities to become compliant with the new regulation. As it stands, all privately owned facilities must comply with the provision of the bill by July 1, 2009.

More than 340,000 people die from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) each year in the US alone - That's more than from breast cancer, prostate cancer, house fires, firearms, traffic accidents, and AIDS combined. Fewer than 7% of the people who experience a sudden cardiac arrest survive - without external defibrillation.

For every minute that goes by without treatment, a cardiac arrest victim's chance of survival decreases by 7-10%. After about 10 minutes without defibrillation, few if any attempts at resuscitation are successful.

SCA is estimated to affect more than 7,000 children annually, according to the Pediatric Clinics of North America Journal.

According to a statement issued by American Med Supply, the company's mission is "that at least one member of every household is trained in CPR and defibrillator use, and that anyone in American is within 4 minutes of a defibrillator."

Headquartered in St. Petersburg, FL, is one of the nation's leading providers of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), AED Batteries, AED Pads and AED Cabinets. American Med Supply supplies many of the largest cities and municipalities, gas & electric companies, police forces, government branches, the State Department, US Embassies, Fortune 1000, small businesses, as well as hundreds of YMCA's, and school districts across the nation with their emergency medical equipment.

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