Amended in Assembly May 28, 2015

Amended in Assembly February 19, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 23

Introduced by Assembly Member Salas

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(Coauthor: Assembly Member Melendez)

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(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Melendez)

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February 11, 2015

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 23—Relative to Automated External Defibrillator Awareness Week.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

ACR 23, as amended, Salas. AED Awareness Week.

This measure would designate the week of begin delete February 22 through 28, end delete begin insert June 1 through June 7, end insert 2015, as Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Awareness Week in California.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, AED is an acronym used as an abbreviation for
Automated External Defibrillator; and

WHEREAS, AEDs are portable medical devices that use
electrodes to automatically analyze and detect cardiac arrhythmia
of sudden cardiac arrest patients; and

WHEREAS, AEDs are able to produce a shock that stops the
heart and allows it to return to a normal rhythm, a process called
defibrillation; and

WHEREAS, AEDs are used in the event of a sudden cardiac
arrest, which is a condition in which the heart suddenly stops
pumping blood and quivers erratically; and

WHEREAS, About 360,000 cases of sudden cardiac arrest occur
yearly, typically without any warning signs; and

WHEREAS, More than 7,000 children and young adults
experience sudden cardiac arrest in the United States each year;
and

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WHEREAS, A person currently has about a 5 percent chance
of surviving an incident of cardiac arrest, which decreases by 7 to
10 percent with every minute that passes after a person’s heart
stops beating; and

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WHEREAS, The interval between a 911 call and the arrival of
emergency medical services personnel is typically longer than five
minutes and achieving high survival rates therefore depends on
cardiopulmonary resuscitation and AED use; and

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WHEREAS, The window of opportunity for using an AED is
very small. Defibrillation is more successful if performed within
five minutes of the cardiac arrest. Studies show that the chances
of survival decrease 7 to 10 percent with every minute that passes
after the person’s heart stops beating; and

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WHEREAS, Optimal AED placement allows a person to grab
the AED and return to the begin delete victim within 90 seconds; end delete begin insert victim; end insert and

WHEREAS, Given that a person’s chances of surviving a sudden
cardiac arrest decrease so rapidly, it is important that Californians
are aware of the importance of AEDs and their life-saving potential;
begin delete now, therefore, be it end delete begin insert and end insert

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WHEREAS, The American Heart Association, the American
Red Cross, and the National Safety Council prepare related public
awareness and training campaigns on cardiopulmonary
resuscitation and AED use, to be held during the first week in June
of each year; now, therefore, be it

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Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the week of begin delete February 22 through 28, end delete begin insert June
1 through June 7, end insert 2015, be designated as Automated External
Defibrillator (AED) Awareness Week in California; and be it
further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.