Senate hearing: advocates urge Vermont law requiring cardiac emergency plans and accessible AEDs in schools

BURLINGTON, Vt. — On April 9 the Vermont Senate Education Committee heard testimony urging lawmakers to require cardiac emergency response plans and ensure accessible automated external defibrillators (AEDs) at Vermont schools, witnesses said.

Tina Zuk, government relations director for the American Heart Association in Vermont, told the committee supporters want language from House bill H.247 folded into the miscellaneous education bill (page 480) so every school and athletic program must adopt a cardiac emergency response plan. "This legislation is meaningful and it will save lives," Zuk said, citing state and national survival statistics and gaps in current practice.

Why it matters: Witnesses said quick bystander action and AED use greatly improve survival. Zuk told senators Vermont’s out‑of‑hospital cardiac arrest survival rate is about 7.5 percent, below the national average she cited; she said 24 cardiac arrests have been recorded at Vermont schools in the last 10 years. Athletic trainers, school nurses and safety coordinators described cases where an AED and an organized plan made the difference for a student and where locked buildings or inaccessible AEDs delayed care.

What proponents asked the committee to do: Zuk and allied groups including the Vermont Association of Athletic Trainers and the Vermont State School Nurses Association asked the committee to amend the miscellaneous education bill to require that school and athletic emergency plans include a cardiac emergency response team, activation guidelines, AED placement and maintenance, dissemination and training, annual drills and integration with local emergency medical services.

Evidence and examples: Dominic Barcomb, identified by supporters as a student who survived a cardiac arrest at Spaulding High School, recounted collapsing during a basketball game and regaining consciousness after school staff used school equipment. "I know, I'm lying on a gym floor with paramedics all around me," Barcomb said in his account of the incident. Kyle Peckham, a certified athletic trainer and Rice Memorial High School assistant athletic director, said some schools lack enforceable requirements: "These plans should not be optional, suggested or recommended, they must be mandated by law," Peckham said, arguing a statutory requirement ensures consistency across both VPA (Vermont Principals Association) and non‑VPA schools.

Training, costs and implementation: Witnesses said many Vermont schools already have at least one AED. Zuk said the Larner College of Medicine survey reached 159 schools; 211 schools were listed as having AEDs in the department registry she cited, and 87 of the 159 responding schools (55 percent) reported having a cardiac emergency plan. She and other witnesses described training options, low per‑person training time, and grant programs to defray equipment costs: AEDs, witnesses said, average about $1,200–$1,800 and the Vermont School Boards Insurance Trust (VISIT) award program can provide up to $10,000 per supervisory union annually for safety initiatives, including AED purchase.

Local practice and failures: Rutland‑area athletic trainer Matt Howland described two incidents in which lack of access or equipment delayed defibrillation. He said in one case a referee survived after prolonged CPR but later died following a subsequent event at a facility without an AED. In another drill at Mill River Union High School, Howland said a locked building kept students from getting to the AED: "it took over 15 minutes for a student to get access to the school," he said, adding that such delays sharply reduce survival odds.

School staff perspective: Rebecca Olmstead, school nurse for Windham Southeast Supervisory Union, and Katie McCarthy, the BU 6 campus safety coordinator, described district efforts to place multiple AEDs, mark locations and train staff and community members in compression‑only CPR and AED use. "This isn't hard," McCarthy said, describing cross‑department budgeting and routine drills that helped shorten response times.

Limits and existing templates: Witnesses noted Act 29 (2023) requires supervisory units to adopt an all‑hazards emergency operations plan based on a template from the Vermont School Safety Center, but they said that template does not currently require a cardiac‑specific annex. Proponents asked senators to require the cardiac elements rather than leave them optional in district plans.

Committee next steps: Senators asked clarifying questions about team size (witnesses suggested either 10 percent of staff or a minimum of five people) and whether VPA policy already covers similar ground; witnesses said VPA guidance exists but is not a statutory requirement and thus can be inconsistently applied. No formal vote or committee action occurred at the hearing; committee members said they would discuss next steps.

The testimony combined survivor accounts, trainer experience and school administrator practice to press for a statutory requirement that would standardize training, AED placement and drills across Vermont school districts, proponents said.