Missouri Senate gives first-round approval to bills requiring AEDs and cardiac-response plans in schools

The Missouri Senate gave first-round approval to Senate Bills 166 and 155, which would require public schools to install automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and adopt cardiac emergency response plans, supporters said.

Senator Curtis Gregory of Marshall sponsored the legislation. Senator Barbara Washington of Kansas City added an amendment during debate to extend the requirement to charter schools, noting charters are governed under a different statute.

The bills, as described on the Senate floor, would require schools to develop cardiac emergency response plans and place AEDs on premises. If enacted, the change would take effect at the start of the 2026–27 school year. The Senate granted the measures first-round approval; a further positive vote would send them to the Missouri House of Representatives for consideration.

“Charters, they’re under a different statute number. Would you have any objection to making sure that we delineate that so that we make sure our charter schools understand that they have to do the same thing?” Senator Barbara Washington said during debate, adding the amendment to include charter schools.

The transcript and on-floor reporting did not include final vote tallies or identifying information about individual yea or nay votes. The Senate action recorded was a first-round approval; the measures remain pending further consideration and any amendments in subsequent legislative steps.

Reporting from the state capital, Dean Morgan.