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American Heart Association requests $150,000 to help Vermont schools implement cardiac emergency response plans
Summary
The AHA asked the House Health Care Committee for a $150,000 grant program to equip and train Title I schools for cardiac emergencies, citing Vermont’s lower out‑of‑hospital cardiac arrest survival rate and recent student rescues.
Tina Zook, government relations director for the American Heart Association in Vermont, asked the House Health Care Committee on Feb. 19 to support a $150,000 grant program to help Vermont schools implement cardiac emergency response plans.
"This funding will help ensure that there are trained late responders, especially in rural areas, especially where EMS response times might be a challenge," Zook said, describing grants to buy AEDs, provide CPR training and cover consumable costs such as replacement pads.
Nut graf: The AHA framed the request as a modest, targeted investment to raise school readiness for out‑of‑hospital cardiac arrests. Zook cited national and state survival statistics and recent local rescue examples to illustrate the potential benefit of better‑resourced response plans.
Zook told the committee that the American Heart Association’s national update shows a 10.2 percent survival rate for out‑of‑hospital cardiac arrest nationally and that Vermont’s survival rate is lower, about 7.5 percent. She said 211 schools and school districts report having AEDs in the state registry but that not all schools responding to the AHA’s outreach reported both AEDs and active response plans; the AHA estimated roughly 194 Title I schools in Vermont and proposed a per‑school estimate of about $3,000 to cover two AEDs and CPR training where needed.
Zook illustrated the program’s potential with a recent case: Milton High School sophomore Dominic Barcomb collapsed during a basketball game and was revived after coaches and the athletic trainer retrieved an AED and performed CPR. Zook said stories like Barcomb’s show the difference made when AEDs are accessible and staff are trained.
She asked the committee to fund a small grant pool targeted to schools most in need, emphasizing that the request would support rural or underresourced schools where longer EMS response times increase the value of trained lay responders and accessible AEDs. "It's such a modest investment. It's we're not talking millions," Zook said.
Ending: Zook said the AHA will supply additional data and that last year’s smaller appropriation ($30,000) to provide hands‑only CPR kits had generated interest and training uptake in schools; she asked the committee to consider the $150,000 request as a step to broaden that program and to make school AEDs and teams more reliable and practiced.
