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Committee advances bill to allow roadside signs directing public to outdoor AEDs; sponsors say signs will save lives
Summary
ST. PAUL — The House Transportation Committee moved House File 1290, a bipartisan bill to authorize roadside wayfinding signage for registered outdoor public-access automatic external defibrillators (AEDs).
ST. PAUL — The House Transportation Committee moved House File 1290, a bipartisan bill to authorize roadside wayfinding signage for registered outdoor public-access automatic external defibrillators (AEDs). The committee adopted a DE1 amendment and referred the bill to the Committee on Elections, Finance and Government Operations.
Representative Perriman (bill sponsor) said the legislation “aims to really improve public access to automatic external defibrillators” by allowing signage to guide people to registered 24/7 outdoor AED cabinets. Rich Fenice, founder of Advocates for Health, explained the public-health rationale: “With a sudden cardiac arrest, if you don't have CPR and an AED, your chances of survival is 5 percent or less. If you have CPR in conjunction with an AED, that turns into a 75 to 85 percent chance of survival,” he told the committee.
Fenice described Advocates for Health’s weatherproof outdoor AED cabinet and said the signs also create “top of the mind awareness” so the public knows an AED is nearby. Joel Vogel, a co-sponsor with the nonprofit, added that AEDs also help in electrocution, drowning and overdoses, not just cardiac events.
Committee fiscal testimony and the fiscal note clarified the cost and who pays. Mr. Lee, the committee fiscal analyst, described a sign-installation estimate of roughly $4,000 per location (fabrication, installation hours, hardware). Committee staff and the fiscal note said participating sites — the entity that places the AED — must cover installation, maintenance and removal costs; MnDOT would install signs where appropriate but does not assume statewide funding for all installations.
Representative Scrabba asked who would pay; Perriman responded that the $4,000-per-sign cost “will be assigned to the individual who is having the AED at their location.” Mr. Burrows confirmed similar language in the DE amendment noting that qualified participants must cover those costs.
Why it matters: Sudden cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death and survival depends on rapid access to CPR and AEDs. Sponsors framed the bill as a practical, low-cost way to make AEDs easier to find and use.
Action: DE1 amendment adopted; House File 1290 referred to Elections, Finance and Government Operations.
