- (a) The West Virginia Legislature hereby finds and declares that each year more than two hundred fifty thousand Americans die from out-of-hospital incidents of sudden cardiac arrest. More than ninety-five percent of these incidents result in death and, in many cases, death occurs because properly trained persons with life-saving automated external defibrillators arrive at the scene too late.
- (b) The American Heart Association estimates that more than twenty thousand deaths could be prevented each year if early defibrillation were more widely available.
- (c) Many communities around the country have invested in 911 emergency notification systems and emergency medical services, including well-trained emergency personnel and ambulance vehicles. However, in many communities, there are not enough strategically placed automated external defibrillators and persons trained to properly operate them.
- (d) It is, therefore, the intent of this Legislature to improve access to early defibrillation by encouraging the establishment of automated external defibrillator programs in careful coordination with the emergency medical services system.