Massachusetts Doctors, Lawmakers, Parents Push for Bill Requiring AEDs at All Sporting Events

Dr. Lisa Owens and her husband, Daryl Settles, can't shake the image of their 15-year-old son Preston lying on the floor of a gymnasium after suffering a cardiac arrest during a basketball game in 2022. Doctors spent nearly 40 minutes trying to resuscitate Preston, who died from an undiagnosed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Now, Owens and Settles are pressing Massachusetts lawmakers to pass legislation, the Preston Settles “Every Minute Counts” Act, that would require automated external defibrillators (AEDs) at all Massachusetts athletic events, games, and practices, as well as at least one person trained to administer AED and CPR treatments.

In comments shared with GBH News Boston, Dr. Kemar Brown, an advanced heart failure and transplant cardiologist of Massachusetts General Hospital, emphasizes that delays in treatment during cardiac arrest can damage brain and heart tissue. “The common mantra in our field is ‘time is brain, and time is heart,'” said Brown. 

State Rep. Russell Holmes, who introduced the bill in 2023, argues that AEDs should be standard in athletic settings. He added that while concerns have been raised about purchasing enough AEDs for schools across the state, the costs associated with them are necessary for running athletic programs.

“This should just be the cost of doing business,” Holmes said in a statement shared with GBH. “If you want to have athletic programs, this is the natural fit for what is needed on this playing field to make sure everyone is safe.”

According to GBH, while Massachusetts law requires AEDs in schools and health clubs, they aren't required at all sporting events.