American Heart Association backs bill for school cardiac-emergency plans after student’s on-court collapse

At a Health & Welfare meeting, Lillian Tia Zuk, government relations director for the American Heart Association, urged lawmakers to support legislation that would require schools to adopt cardiac emergency response plans after Dominic, a Milton student, described suffering a cardiac arrest during a January basketball game and being revived by trainers and coaches.

The proposed measure, Zuk said, would require schools to maintain not just automated external defibrillators but functioning emergency plans, regular drills and designated trained responders so staff can act immediately when a cardiac arrest occurs. "We are promoting legislation that would require cardiac emergency response plans in schools, so we'll have better outcomes when somebody has a cardiac arrest," Zuk said.

Dominic described the moments leading up to his collapse and his…