NY State Senate Bill 2025-S6863

Senate Bill S6863

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Requires automated external defibrillator equipment to be immediately available at school-sponsored events

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Education Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Mar 25, 2025	referred to education

2025-S6863 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A4166
Current Committee:: Senate Education
Law Section:: Education Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §917, Ed L
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:: S4100, A7013

2025-S6863 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires automated external defibrillator equipment to be immediately available at school-sponsored events; requires school districts, boards of cooperative educational services, county vocational education and extension boards and charter schools to develop and implement a cardiac emergency response plan.

2025-S6863 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S6863

SPONSOR: WEBB
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring automated
external defibrillator equipment to be immediately available at school-
sponsored events

 
PURPOSE:

To require school districts, BOCES, vocational education, and charter
schools to have an AED immediately available to coaching and/or training
staff at any school-sponsored event.

 
SUMMARY:

Section 1. Amends subdivisions 1, 2, 3 and 4 of section 917 of the
education law, as amended by chapter 61 of the laws of 2002.

Section 2. Sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Instances of sudden cardiac arrest often occur at athletic events,
including in the case of Buffalo Bills' player Damar Hamlin, who
collapsed on the field during a game and had to be resuscitated on the
playing field, undoubtedly saving his life due to the presence of an
automated external defibrillator (AED). Currently, New York has a stat-
ute requiring AEDs be present somewhere in all types of schools, yet
there is no requirement that the AED specifically be immediately avail-
able at school athletic events. Rather, current law simply requires an
AED be provided "on-site." This could lead to situations where an
athletic trainer or coach must travel into or to another part of the
school building to grab the AED, and then take it back to the location
of the person with a sudden cardiac arrest.

When an individual's heart stops, time is of the essence. Studies have
shown that mortality rates increase for every second longer it takes to
administer an AED shock to the heart. This means having an AED phys-
ically on-site of the athletic event would save precious time should a
sudden cardiac arrest occur, increasing the survivability rate of the
individual.

This bill would clarify existing law to provide that not only should an
AED always be on-site at a school, but also should be readily available
at the actual athletic event for usage, should one be needed.

 
FISCAL IMPACT:

TBD

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2023-24: S.4100A

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law.

2025-S6863 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6863
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 25, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  WEBB  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation  to  requiring  automated
   external  defibrillator  equipment  to  be  immediately  available  at
   school-sponsored events

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. Subdivisions 1, 2, 3 and 4 of section 917 of the education
 law, as amended by chapter 61 of the laws of 2002, are amended  to  read
 as follows:
   1. School districts, boards of cooperative educational services, coun-
 ty  vocational  education and extension boards and charter schools shall
 provide and maintain on-site in each instructional school facility auto-
 mated external defibrillator (AED) equipment, as  defined  in  paragraph
 (a)  of subdivision one of section three thousand-b of the public health
 law, in quantities and types deemed by the commissioner in  consultation
 with  the  commissioner  of  health  to  be adequate to ensure ready and
 appropriate access for use during  emergencies,  PROVIDED  HOWEVER,  AND
 SUCH  AED  SHALL BE IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE IN AND AT ALL SCHOOL SPONSORED
 EVENTS INCLUDING TO ATHLETIC  COACHING  AND/OR  TRAINING  STAFF  AT  THE
 LOCATION OF  ANY SCHOOL-SPONSORED PRACTICE OR ATHLETIC EVENT.
   2. SCHOOL DISTRICTS, BOARDS OF COOPERATIVE EDUCATIONAL SERVICES, COUN-
 TY  VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION AND EXTENSION BOARDS AND CHARTER SCHOOLS SHALL
 DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT A CARDIAC EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN  THAT  ADDRESSES
 THE  APPROPRIATE  USE OF PERSONNEL TO RESPOND TO INCIDENTS INVOLVING ANY
 INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCING SUDDEN CARDIAC ARREST OR A SIMILAR  LIFE-THREAT-
 ENING EMERGENCY ON ANY SCHOOL SITE OWNED OR OPERATED BY A SCHOOL OR AT A
 LOCATION  OF  ANY  PRACTICE  OR ATHLETIC EVENT.   SUCH CARDIAC EMERGENCY
 RESPONSE PLAN  SHALL  INCLUDE  THE  TRAINING  OF  APPROPRIATE  PERSONNEL
 INCLUDING  BUT  NOT  LIMITED TO SCHOOL PERSONNEL, COACHES, SCHOOL NURSES
 AND ATHLETIC TRAINERS.  THE CARDIAC EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN SHALL  INTE-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD07949-01-5

 S. 6863                             2
 
 GRATE EVIDENCED BASED CORE ELEMENTS AS RECOMMENDED BY THE AMERICAN HEART
 ASSOCIATION  OR  OTHER  NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED ORGANIZATION THAT PROVIDES
 THE GUIDELINES TRAINING FOR THE USE OF AN AUTOMATED EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLA-
 TOR  (AED)  AND  CARDIOPULMONARY  RESUSCITATION  (CPR) AND SHALL INCLUDE
 PROVISIONS CONSISTENT WITH REQUIREMENTS OF A PUBLIC  ACCESS  DEFIBRILLA-
 TION  PROVIDER PURSUANT TO SECTION THREE THOUSAND-A AND THREE THOUSAND-B
 OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW.
   3. Whenever public school facilities pursuant to  subdivision  one  of
 this section are used for school sponsored or school approved curricular
 or  extracurricular events or activities and whenever a school-sponsored
 athletic contest is held at any location, the  public  school  officials
 and  administrators  responsible  for  such  school facility or athletic
 contest shall ensure the presence of at least one staff  person  who  is
 trained, pursuant to paragraph (a) of subdivision three of section three
 thousand-b of the public health law, in the operation and use of an AED.
 Where  a  school-sponsored  [competitive]  PRACTICE OR athletic event is
 held at a site other than a public school facility,  the  public  school
 officials  shall  assure that automated external defibrillator equipment
 is provided on-site AT THE PRACTICE OR ATHLETIC  EVENT  AND  IMMEDIATELY
 AVAILABLE TO ATHLETIC COACHING AND/OR TRAINING STAFF.
   [3.]  4.  Public  school facilities and staff pursuant to subdivisions
 one and two of this section shall be deemed a "public access defibrilla-
 tion provider" as defined in paragraph (c) of subdivision one of section
 three thousand-b of the public health law and shall be  subject  to  the
 requirements and limitations of such section.
   [4.]  5.  Pursuant to section three thousand-a and three thousand-b of
 the public health law, any public access defibrillation provider, or any
 employee or other agent of the provider  who,  in  accordance  with  the
 provisions of this section, voluntarily and without expectation of mone-
 tary compensation renders emergency medical or first aid treatment using
 an  AED  which  has  been  made available pursuant to this section, to a
 person who is unconscious, ill or injured, shall be liable only pursuant
 to section three thousand-a of the public health law.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
 it shall have become a law.

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