Gov. Signs Foster City Lawmaker's AED Availability Bill

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — A bill by a Peninsula state legislator to increase the availability of automated external defibrillators around the state was signed into law Sunday night by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Senate Bill 1397, authored by State Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, requires that AEDs, devices used to help people in cardiac arrest, be installed in any high-occupancy structures that undergo significant modifications or improvements.

The law, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2020, states that an AED must be installed in any residential, commercial, educational, institutional or factory building with occupancy for 200 or more people that has had renovations totaling at least $100,000 in a calendar year.

The law would also apply to assembly buildings like auditoriums and theaters with an occupancy of 300 or more people.

"The life-saving potential of an AED is clear," Hill said in a statement. "Sudden cardiac arrest kills nearly 1,000 people a day in the United States."

By Bay City News Service / Image via Shutterstock