Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is the leading cause of death in schools with one in every 70 schools having a sudden cardiac arrest annually. After the heart unexpectedly stops, prompt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) use are imperative to preventing sudden cardiac death (SCD) and restoring blood flow. For every minute without a shock, SCA survival decreases by 10% with overall survival hovering around only 12%. Promisingly, survival rates of students in schools with an AED program is up to 89% which indicates the importance that schools have a sufficient number of functioning and accessible AEDs to serve their school's population. 

The Pennsylvania Senate Education Committee unanimously passed PA Senate Bill 375 this past June and it will continue on to the PA Senate floor in Fall 2023 for voting. PA Senate Bill 375 will require each school to have at least one AED in each school building and all sporting events, a cardiac emergency response plan (CERP), CPR/AED trained personnel, and regular AED drills.

My project assesses current AED presence across the six geographic regions in PA defined by the PA Department of Education, evaluates AED access in relation to socioeconomic status determined by median household income, and quantifies the overall and individual school cost to provide PA public schools with a sufficient number of AEDs to serve their school population. Overall, we concluded that 1270 AEDs must be purchased to provide a sufficient number of AEDs to public schools across PA which will cost an estimated $1,270,000. This cost is 0.016% of the PA Basic Education Budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, making it an attainable percentage of the overall state budget.