Agencies get guidance on using heart attack equipment

The General Services Administration and the Health and Human Services Department last week issued guidance on the use of defibrillators in federal facilities, urging agencies to get heart smart. The guidelines came about a year after President Clinton ordered the two agencies to develop rules for placing automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, in federal facilities. The portable defibrillators are used to resuscitate someone whose heart is fibrillating, or fluttering, by shocking the heart back to its normal rhythm. Last November, Congress passed H.R. 2498, which requires Health and Human Services to develop guidelines for placing defibrillators in federal buildings and provides liability protection to anyone who uses an AED to help save someone's life. GSA and HHS directed agencies to work with local medical and emergency response teams to develop successful defibrillation programs in their buildings. Each agency's own medical staff, a contractor, or an agency-wide designated federal physician must oversee each facility's defibrillation program and help provide proper training and certification to agency volunteers. The guidance also encouraged agencies to provide refresher courses at least every two years for employees trained to use AEDs. The American Red Cross and the American Heart Association are working with agencies to train federal employees how to properly use the AEDs. As for liability, many states, including Virginia and Maryland, have "Good Samaritan" laws, which provide some legal immunity to those who help others in distress. Some agencies have already installed automatic external defibrillators in their facilities. In April 2000, the U.S. Geological Survey set up five automatic external defibrillators at its headquarters to help employees or visitors in the event of cardiac arrest.