Kentucky lawmakers came together to celebrate the signing of House Bill 331 which will require schools across the Commonwealth to have AEDs readily available.
One bill sponsor, Representative Ruth Ann Palumbo, says "...the lives of young students in Kentucky will be saved under this law."
One family in northern Kentucky lost their son in 2020, 16-year-old Matthew Mangine Jr.
His father, Matt Mangine Sr. shares, "He was a junior and towards the end of soccer practice, he collapsed in cardiac arrest. There were five AEDs there that night and no one retrieved one and applied it to him until emergency medical arrived about 12 minutes after his collapse."
Matt Mangine and his wife Kim started "The Matthew Mangine Jr. Foundation" to raise awareness about cardiac episodes. They offer training in CPR and the use of AED machines. Mangine says he knows NFL player Damar Hamlin’s collapse in January brought more attention to the issue.
He says, "That was, you know, part of our goals when we first started the foundation and started talking about what we wanted to make change in the state of Kentucky. You know, it all came together faster than I anticipated, obviously, January 2nd was a big reason for that. And we'll take anything that we can get."
Mangine explained that these trainings can be as short as 10 minutes, and the more people that are trained on CPR and how to use these machines the more lives that can be saved.
"They are automated external defibrillators for a reason, they're automated, right? They tell you what to do. There's no questioning it and honestly, when a lot of people see it for the first time, they're like 'Wow that's... Is it really simple?' It is,” says Mangine.
The foundation will continue working with schools on developing training.
The legislation requires coaches and school staff to be trained, emergency plans to be in place, and that schools practice using the machines before athletic seasons. Mangine says it's been great to see both sides of the aisle come together on this bill.
He says, "This is a purple issue. Purple is Matthew’s favorite color so it all just fits perfectly and that's what we love about all this."
Now that this piece of legislation has passed, Representative Ruth Ann Palumbo says that efforts will continue to extend the requirement to elementary school buildings as well.
Lawmakers are working together to save more lives across the Commonwealth.
