BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 2217 (Melendez) - Automatic External Defibrillators
Amended: July 1, 2014 Policy Vote: Education 7-0,
Judiciary 6-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 14, 2014
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez
SUSPENSE FILE. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.
Bill Summary: AB 2217 encourages schools to acquire and maintain
at least one automatic external defibrillator (AED), authorizes
schools to solicit and receive nonstate funds for AEDs, and
clarifies that school employees are not civilly liable when
acting in good faith.
Fiscal Impact (as approved on August 14, 2014): No state costs.
Background: Existing law authorizes a school district or school
to provide a comprehensive program in first aid or
cardiopulmonary resuscitation training, or both, to pupils and
employees, and requires the program to be developed using
specified guidelines. Neither schools nor school districts are
required to provide such a program, nor are they required to
have AEDs onsite. The Education Code is silent relative to the
acquisition, maintenance, or use of AEDs.
Existing law states that any person or entity that acquires a
defibrillator is not liable for any civil damages resulting from
any acts or omissions in the rendering of emergency care if that
person or entity complies with all regulations governing the
placement of a defibrillator, and ensures all of the following:
a) the defibrillator is maintained and regularly tested, as
specified; b) the defibrillator is checked for readiness, as
specified; c) any person who uses the defibrillator activates
the emergency medical services system and reports any use of the
defibrillator to the licensed physician and local Emergency
Medical Services agency; d) for every defibrillator acquired up
to five units, at least one person per defibrillator must
complete training, as specified; and, e) a written plan is in
place that describes the procedures to follow in the event of an
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emergency.
Under existing law, when a defibrillator is placed in a public
or private K-12 school, a school principal is required to: a)
ensure administrators and staff annually receive a brochure
describing the proper use of the defibrillator, and that similar
information is posted next to every defibrillator, as specified;
b) annually notify school employees as to the location of all
defibrillators on the campus; and, c) designate the trained
employees who shall be available to respond to an emergency that
may involve the use of a defibrillator during the hours of
classroom instruction and during any school-sponsored activity
occurring on school grounds. (Health and Safety Code � 1797.196)
Proposed Law: This bill states the intent of the Legislature to
encourage all public schools to acquire and maintain at least
one AED, and would authorize a public school to solicit and
receive nonstate funds to acquire and maintain an AED. This bill
also provides that the school district and its employees are not
liable for civil damages resulting from certain uses, attempted
uses, or nonuses of an AED, except as provided.
Related Legislation: AB 939 (Melendez, 2013) was substantially
similar to this bill. That bill was held under submission in
this Committee.
SB 63 (Price, 2011) was substantially similar to this bill, but
applied only to public high schools. That bill was held under
submission in this Committee.
Staff Comments: This bill states the intent of the Legislature,
codified in statute, that all public schools acquire and
maintain at least one AED. This provision creates cost pressure
for every public school to acquire at least one AED, which can
range in cost from $1,000-$2,500. This bill authorizes high
schools to seek nonstate funds to purchase defibrillators, which
they can already do without specific statutory authorization,
but does not require that only nonstate funds be used for
purchase and maintenance of AEDs.
Existing law, Health and Safety Code � 1797.196, requires (among
other things) that if a public or private school elects to place
an AED on its campus, the school administrator "designate the
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trained employees who shall be available to respond to an
emergency that may involve the use of a defibrillator during the
hours of classroom instruction and during any school-sponsored
activity occurring on school grounds." To the extent that
schools follow the legislative encouragement to have AEDs on
site, they will also be required to designate and train
employees that will be available to use the AED during school
days and school events.
While these are not direct state costs, they are costs for
schools and school districts, which are primarily funded by
Proposition 98 General Fund.
Author's Amendments remove the legislative intent for all
schools to acquire and maintain AEDs.