(1) Heart disease is a leading cause of death in the Virgin Islands;
(2) The American Heart Association estimates that 250,000 Americans die from sudden cardiac arrest each year;
(3) A cardiac arrest victim's chance of survival drops 10 percent for every minute that passes before his or her heart is returned to normal rhythm;
(4) Because most cardiac arrest victims are initially in ventricular fibrillation, and the only treatment for ventricular fibrillation is defibrillation, prompt access to defibrillation to return the heart to normal rhythm is essential;
(5) Lifesaving technology, the automated external defibrillator, has been developed to allow trained lay rescuers to respond to cardiac arrest by using this simple device to shock the heart into normal rhythm;
(6) Those people who are likely to be first on the scene of a cardiac arrest situation in many communities, particularly smaller and rural communities, lack sufficient numbers of automated external defibrillators to respond to cardiac arrest in a timely manner. By “automatic external defibrillator, or AED”, it is meant a medical device heart monitor and defibrillator that has been approved, or cleared for marketing by the United States Food and Drug Administration;
(7) The American Heart Association estimates that more than 50,000 deaths could be prevented each year if defibrillators were more widely available to designated responders;
(8) Legislation is needed to encourage greater public access to automated external defibrillators in the Virgin Islands.