SCHUMER -WITH BUFFALO BILLS’ DAMAR HAMLIN, STUDENTS & BILLS MAFIA- ANNOUNCES HE WILL BRING HAMLIN’S LIFESAVING HEARTS ACT TO HELP PUT AEDS IN SCHOOLS ACROSS AMERICA TO THE SENATE FLOOR THIS WEEK

Schumer & Hamlin Have Been Working Together For Months To Boost Bipartisan Support For This Bill, After Damar Suffered Cardiac Arrest During A Bills Game And Used His Miraculous and Inspirational Recovery Story To Better Protect Students Across USA

HEARTS Act Would Put More Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) In Schools & Make CPR Training More Prevalent & Accessible Across The Country

Chuck & Damar: We’re On The One-Yard Line! Let’s Get This Bill Into The End Zone & Bring AEDs To Schools Across America

Standing with Buffalo Bills’ Safety Damar Hamlin, student-athletes, and Bills Mafia, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer today announced he will bring the lifesaving HEARTS Act, which he and Damar have worked together on for months, to the Senate floor this week for a unanimous consent vote to be passed into law. Schumer and Hamlin are now launching their final push to show why all should support this bipartisan legislation to help schools and students be prepared to respond to cardiac emergencies by making AEDs and CPR training more accessible across America.

“For months, Damar, the Buffalo Bills and I have worked together on bipartisan legislation to make CPR training accessible and put AEDs in schools across America, and now we are on the one-yard line. This week I will bring the lifesaving HEARTS Act to the Senate floor to be passed into law,” said Leader Schumer. “Damar has used his voice and turned his inspirational story of recovery into a mission to help millions of children. This legislation goes beyond the field and stretches thousands of miles outside Buffalo. Let’s get the HEARTS Act into the end zone and bring AEDs to schools across America. This bipartisan legislation will save lives, and everybody should support it.”

“Since experiencing cardiac arrest, I’ve been honored to work with partners who understand how important it is to provide CPR education and have access to AEDs to save lives,” said Damar Hamlin, Buffalo Bills safety, member of the NFL Smart Heart Sports Coalition and National Ambassador for the American Heart Association's Nation of Lifesavers movement. “I’m very grateful to Senator Schumer for his work making this common-sense legislation a priority. My journey has shown us that no one expects cardiac arrest to happen - and we all need to be prepared.  Working together, we have the chance now to protect kids and impact the next generation. I hope that every Senator will lend their support for this bill and that my experience with cardiac arrest will help lead to lasting change. Let’s get this done.“

When Hamlin went into cardiac arrest during an NFL game in January 2023, the Bills medical team used an AED and performed CPR, saving Hamlin’s life. Since then Hamlin has used his miraculous and inspirational recovery story to help kids across the country, working with Schumer to create a new federal program that will help put more AEDs in schools. Now Majority Leader Schumer will bring that legislation to the floor this week and launch his push to garner the final support needed to ensure it can become law.

Schumer said that the bipartisan Cardiomyopathy Health Education, Awareness, Research and Training in Schools (HEARTS) Act, which the U.S. House of Representatives passed earlier this year, would provide direct grants to elementary and secondary schools. The bill would create a grant program at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to support CPR and automated external defibrillator (AED) training, in addition to supporting the purchase of AEDs and the development of cardiac emergency response plans, which can more than double survival rates from cardiac arrest by empowering people nearby to dial 911, start CPR and use an AED.

Schumer explained that in schools with AEDs, children who experience cardiac arrest are seven times as likely to survive as children in schools without AEDs. Schumer also highlighted the importance of CPR training for students and adults in schools, saying that for every minute without CPR, chances of survival drop by 10%. With more people confident in their ability to perform CPR, people experiencing cardiac arrest will get the care they need more quickly.

“On behalf of the NFL and more than 40 members of the Smart Heart Sports Coalition, I applaud Senator Schumer, Damar Hamlin, the Buffalo Bills organization, and all our teammates who have helped move this commonsense, lifesaving measure forward. We urge the Senate to get this important bill over the goal line and onto the President’s desk. Doing so would be a win for our schools and the health and safety of young people across the country,” said Jeff Miller, NFL Executive Vice President of Communications, Public Affairs, and Policy.

“We are grateful to Majority Leader Schumer and the many champions of the HEARTS Act in Congress. The National Football League, the American Heart Association, Damar Hamlin and the Smart Heart Sports Coalition have worked for almost two years to make schools across the country safer for students, staff and visitors. The bipartisan HEARTS Act will save lives from cardiac arrest by ensuring schools nationwide have cardiac emergency response plans in place, students and staff are trained in CPR and campuses are equipped with AEDs. These proven measures could be the difference between life and death for the up to 23,000 children who experience a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital each year. Every second counts when someone experiences a cardiac arrest, and schools can’t wait one more minute to have the resources they need to save lives. We urge the Senate to send the House-passed HEARTS Act to the president’s desk for signature,” said Nancy Brown, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association.

“As a medical professional who has performed CPR and AED, I know firsthand that when cardiac emergencies happen, this technology save lives,” said Congressman Tim Kennedy. “The HEARTS Act will help provide schools with these life-saving devices and put CPR training in reach for more staff and families. I commend Senator Schumer for his work on this critical legislation, and Damar Hamlin for turning a harrowing experience into action that will save lives on and off the field.”

“I want to thank Majority Leader Schumer, Congressman Tim Kennedy, and Damar Hamlin on working together on this important legislation that will undoubtedly save lives,” said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz. “Erie County, with numerous community partners, has been working towards the Citizen CPR HeartSafe Community designation because we believe in the importance of getting as many of our residents trained in hands free CPR and having many publicly accessible AEDs to give someone the best chance to survive a cardiac event. This will help our efforts here in that mission.”

“Over the past two years, we have worked tirelessly to make AEDs and CPR training more accessible in our community. Through our initiatives, we have supported the training of over one hundred thousand community members, empowering each of them with the knowledge and confidence to act in an emergency. Grants to schools for AEDs will ensure that students, staff, and families have access to critical resources when every second counts. Our team has experienced first-hand the impact of these life-saving measures with Damar Hamlin and Kim Pegula. This bill will make Western New York, and communities around the country safer, and ultimately save lives,” said Terry Pegula, Bills Owner/CEO/President.

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