Indiana lawmakers have kept requirements for schools to have cardiac emergency response plans and defibrillators at school events after a wave of advocacy from parents and health groups across the state.
House Bill 1004 had included language that would have loosened the rules, but an amendment approved by the House Education Committee maintains the protections.
Julie West of LaPorte lost her son during football practice in 2013. She says parents and students are safer when schools are required to have emergency plans.
“It makes no sense, whatsoever, to repeal language that would save a child's life and protect them in the school environment,” West said.
The amendment follows weeks of outreach from advocates, including the American Heart Association, which says hundreds of Hoosiers contacted lawmakers to preserve the law. Even though AEDs will remain in schools, West stresses there’s still a step parents should take.
“I strongly advise any parent out there to have their child get a heart screening. I tell you what, I would give anything to have had this information prior to losing my son,” she said.
The American Heart Association says it will continue monitoring the bill as it moves to the full House and then the Senate.
