Legislation to require devices in health clubs raises concerns about mandates, cost and enforcement
By Bill Ruthhart
The Indianapolis Star (Indiana)
Copyright 2007 The Indianapolis Star
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
India Owens can’t help but wonder whether her cousin Rick Bartlett’s life could have been saved.
Bartlett was jogging at the Shelby County Athletic Club when he collapsed and went into cardiac arrest.
“Nurses and physicians who were working out at the club stood by helplessly without the equipment needed to defibrillate Rick’s heart,” said Owens, manager of clinical operations at Indiana University Hospital’s Emergency Department. ...
“When paramedics got there, unfortunately, it was too late.”
A bill before the Indiana General Assembly would require all health clubs across the state to purchase automated external defibrillators, or AEDs. Senate Bill 134, authored by Sen. Patricia L. Miller, R-Indianapolis, also would require at least one employee at each health club to be trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the use of a defibrillator.
The Senate approved the bill last month by a 37-9 vote, but concerns about placing mandates on private businesses and how to enforce such a law could stall the legislation.
SB 134 is before the House Public Health Committee, where Republican lawmakers question whether the state should require businesses to install the devices, which typically cost $1,000 to $2,000.
“I start getting concerned when we start mandating private businesses and telling them what they should be doing,” said Rep. David Frizzell, R-Indianapolis.
The American Heart Association and the Indiana Emergency Nurses Association say the potential to save lives should outweigh any cost concerns.
“You can buy a good, quality AED for as low as $900 to $1,700,” said Danielle Patterson, senior advocacy director for the American Heart Association’s Greater Midwest affiliate. “That’s the same as two people’s membership for a year at a health facility, so this is doable.”
Hoping to address concerns about cost, the health committee amended the bill to include a one-time tax credit for health clubs that purchase defibrillators.
Under the legislation, the Indiana State Department of Health would be in charge of making sure health clubs comply with the law. But Indiana does not license health clubs or track how many there are statewide.
“We have no way of regulating health clubs,” said Brian Carnes, a legislative liaison for the department. “We don’t license them, so we couldn’t hold their license or punish them.”
At a hearing on the bill last week, the committee chairman, Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, questioned whether the Department of Health would support licensing health clubs.
Carnes answered that would cost too much.
“If we don’t know how many facilities there are and where they are, how can we police them?” Brown asked. “It doesn’t make sense to say a health club should have a defibrillator if we don’t know how many there are and where they are.”
Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington, suggested that even if the law weren’t enforced, health clubs would have an incentive to carry defibrillators.
“Even if we don’t inspect them,” Welch said, “if someone dies and they don’t have a defibrillator, then a family could bring suit because they broke state law.”
Brown decided to delay a committee vote on the bill to sort out how much a potential tax credit would cost the state and whether the bill should require health clubs to be inspected.
When a vote might be taken is uncertain. But Patterson, of the American Heart Association, was clear in urging lawmakers to pass the legislation.
“In some cases, it takes 10 minutes to get live-saving support to a patient,” she said. “We strongly believe this will save time and save lives.”