Damar Hamlin’s alarming health crisis during a January 2023 Monday Night Football game has inspired new legislation focused on improving access to heart health resources.
On Dec. 10, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed The Cardiomyopathy Health Education, Awareness, Research and Training in Schools Act, or HEARTS Act, a bill that will increase access to automated external defibrillators and expand CPR training in schools, ESPN reported. The bipartisan legislation now awaits President Biden’s signature to become law.
Hamlin worked on the bill with New York Sen. Chuck Schumer before it was passed by the House of Representatives in September. The bill proposes establishing a grant program through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to support elementary and secondary schools by funding the purchase of AEDs, providing resources for CPR and AED training, and assisting in the creation of cardiac emergency response plans.
CPR and the use of AEDs were critical in saving Hamlin’s life after the then-25-year-old suffered cardiac arrest on the field during a game in Cincinnati, leading to a nine-day hospital stay in Buffalo, New York. In April 2023, the Buffalo Bills star disclosed that his cardiac arrest was caused by a blow to the chest, a rare condition known as commotio cordis.
“Since experiencing cardiac arrest, I’ve been honored to work with partners who understand how important it is to provide CPR education and have access to AEDs to save lives,” Hamlin said at an event on Monday with Schumer. “I’m very grateful to Senator Schumer for his work making his common-sense legislation a priority. My journey has shown us that no one expects cardiac arrest to happen — and we all need to be prepared.”
Following his health scare, Hamlin has devoted much of his time to his foundation, Chasing M’s, and the American Heart Association, to raise awareness about the importance of CPR training and the availability of AEDs in communities. Research by the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that children who experience cardiac arrest in schools with AEDs are seven times more likely to survive, compared to children in schools without AEDs.
Both the Buffalo Bills and the NFL have expressed their support for the bill.
“I believe that every single one of them deserve the same kind of care that I had,” Hamlin said. “As far as kids growing up who want to chase their dreams and want to pursue anything that they want to do. And we have a chance to be impacting the next generation. We got a chance to make history.”
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