A new law will require all healthcare facilities in Rhode Island to have an automated external defibrillator and someone trained to use it, according to a news release from the state legislature.
The law, which was approved by the General Assembly last week and signed by Gov. Daniel McKee, goes into effect Sept. 1.
The requirement will apply to all healthcare facilities, regardless of capacity, including hospitals, nursing facilities, and ambulatory surgery centers, as well as physicians’ and dentists’ offices.
Automated external defibrillators are used to analyze a person’s heartbeat and deliver an electrical shock to the heart if necessary. The requirement for public places with a capacity of 300 or more people to have an AED on site has been in effect since 2017.
“AEDs absolutely save lives. Cardiac arrest can happen anywhere, but health care facilities in particular should be equipped for that situation. The more AEDs that are available in places where people are, the more likely it is that people will survive cardiac arrest,” said Representative Arthur Corvese, who introduced the bill.
According to the news release, the Rhode Island Department of Public Information reports that there are more than 300 healthcare facilities in the state that do not have an AED.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisted a What’sUpNewp journalist with the reporting included in this story.
