Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH) signed legislation requiring AED placements in all public and chartered nonpublic schools across the state.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Afternoon, everybody.
00:21So today I'm going to sign a bill that will help us save lives.
00:26I told the Senate President a moment ago that there's a few times that when we sign a bill,
00:35we pretty much know that the bill, by enacting it, it will, in fact, save lives.
00:41So this is a big occasion.
00:44We have a number of speakers.
00:46We have both the Senate President and the speaker here today, which is unusual to have
00:52both of them, and we have other members of the legislature, and we have, of course,
00:57people who are directly involved in what happened.
01:03House Bill 47 requires, makes a requirement for schools across Ohio to have automated external defibrillators, or AEDs.
01:16Before, it was a recommendation that schools and other sports facilities should have these.
01:22Now it will be a requirement, and so that every school in the state,
01:28and one of our public schools, will be required to do this.
01:32I want to thank the bill's sponsors, Representative Richard Brown and Adam Byrd, who we'll hear from in a moment.
01:37I want to thank them for introducing this very important piece of legislation.
01:42I also want to thank the other co-sponsors and a very long list of supporters of the bill, some of whom you will hear from today.
01:51It's impossible, I think, to really overstate the importance of AEDs.
01:56They're easy to use during a sudden cardiac emergency, but they can only be used if they're there and if they're available.
02:04They analyze the heart's rhythm, and if needed, they deliver an electrical shock
02:10to help the heart reestablish an effective rhythm.
02:14The statistics clearly tell the story of how very, very important it is to have these devices available.
02:22According to the CDC, more than 356,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur each year in the United States.
02:34An estimated 70 to 90% of these people tragically die before reaching the hospital.
02:42The American Heart Association reports that 9 out of 10 cardiac arrest victims
02:47will live if they receive a shock from an AED in the first minute after the incident.
02:55The difference that this device makes is really astounding.
02:59Having them in our schools, having them available to safeguard our students is absolutely the right thing to do.
03:09Our student-athletes are generally very healthy, and these kinds of events are extremely rare, but we do know that they occur.
03:21According to the National Institute of Health, sudden cardiac arrest is the number one killer of student-athletes in America.
03:29In just a few minutes, you'll hear from Kanan Dickman, a student here at Worthington-Kilburn,
03:35who knows about the realities of sudden cardiac arrest and also about the life-saving potential of AEDs.
03:42We're joined as well by other guests today with close personal ties to this cause.
03:48They will present stories of loss. They will present stories of miracles and second chances.
03:56All these stories are certainly emotional, they're compelling, and they speak to exactly why this life-saving legislation is so very critical.
04:06This bill actually goes beyond simply requiring AEDs in schools.
04:11It will also require the Ohio Department of Health to develop a model emergency action plan for the use of these AEDs,
04:21and schools will be required to adopt and practice that plan.
04:27The bill requires each school to train teachers, administrators, coaches, athletic trainers, and anyone else supervising student-athletes on how and when to use AEDs.
04:39And of course, young athletes often compete at other venues besides their own school.
04:45So the bill also requires AEDs to be placed at municipalities, owned or operated sports and recreational locations, wherever they are.
04:55It also requires both schools and youth sports organizations to hold informational meetings each sports season regarding the symptoms
05:05and the warning signs of sudden cardiac arrest for young athletes of all ages.
05:11As I referenced earlier, one young man who can tell the story of the importance of AEDs is Kanan Dickman.
05:18He will be a sophomore here at Worthington-Kilbourne this coming fall.
05:22Last summer, he was participating in soccer practice here at Kilbourne when the unthinkable happened.
05:29He experienced a sudden cardiac event and he collapsed on the track.
05:33Fortunately, Kanan's coach, John Sprunger, jumped into action almost instantly, and Kanan's story has a happy ending.
05:43We're pleased that Kanan and his mother, Pam, are here with us today to tell you their story and to tell it to you firsthand.
05:51So let me now invite them to do just that.
05:55So for us, today is about gratitude.
06:13It has been a year since we almost lost Kanan.
06:21We know that only because of his coaches, Coach Sprunger and Coach Fagan,
06:26and the quick actions of not only them but also the team, the teammates that ran and helped get the AED machine,
06:36we were told that some of the teammates grabbed some of the other players and went to the other side of the field and started praying for Kanan.
06:43So we're just grateful for everything that transpired that day.
06:48But we know that without their quick actions, he literally would not be here.
06:51We were told that over and over in the hospital.
06:58The AED, the 911 call, and the upperclassmen and the coaches all came together that day and made this a positive ending for us.
07:09It is a true sense of community.
07:11The Worthington community has been amazing.
07:14We want to thank all of our family and our friends, many of whom are here today.
07:20We just love you all.
07:22We want to thank Kilburn High School for having the AED and the training set in place before July 7th of last year,
07:31and for allowing us to use this great school as a sounding board for raising awareness
07:39and for helping to eventually get this bill passed and in play.
07:44I know the Worthington School Board, I spoke with someone,
07:48and they are working right now to get more AEDs in all of the schools and also recreational areas and parks.
07:56So we thank them for that.
07:59It not only affects our students, but staff, faculty, any observers coming to the sporting events,
08:06or not even just sporting events, but any event in any school.
08:10There's just so many people there at any given time.
08:13So it is going to help us all.
08:16It's a win today for everyone.
08:19The American Heart Association has been wonderful
08:23and has been really allowing us to work with them as far as advocating and spreading awareness.
08:32We were very honored to go to Washington, D.C. and advocate there as well,
08:38and all basically leading into a bill like is getting signed today.
08:43We're very excited, and it's wonderful to see the process come to fruition.
08:52We want to thank American Heart Association for all their tireless efforts
08:58because they've been working on this for years.
09:01So we appreciate you very much.
09:04And we want to give a very, very special thank you to Governor DeWine today
09:08and his staff and everyone involved in helping to bring this to light,
09:14realizing the priority of it, and for passing House Bill 47.
09:22We hope that the passing of this bill will help save lives just as mine was saved,
09:27because if it weren't for AAD and CPR training in our school, I would not be here today.
09:33Thank you, Governor DeWine.
09:44Wow.
09:46Yeah, what a story.
09:49Let me now introduce Coach John Sprunger,
09:53who played a key role in saving Kenyon's life that day.
09:57John, will you come up, please?
10:07Hello, my name is John Sprunger,
10:09and I am a social studies teacher here at Kilbourne and also the head soccer coach.
10:14And as a social studies teacher who's been teaching for 33 years about American government, American civics,
10:21I've got to tell you, it's a little surreal to be up here actually with a story,
10:27with the opportunity to describe and to show my classes how a bill becomes a law.
10:32And for this to take place here at Kilbourne, at my school, is really an honor.
10:36So I appreciate the fact that you chose to be here and were able to carry this out.
10:40This is really an amazing teacher experience for me.
10:43From a soccer coaching standpoint, as I look at what happened here,
10:49we have a good story to tell.
10:51And I think the fact that we are here and that you are here is kind of the joyous end result
10:57of what House Bill 47, soon to be our state law, has really set us all up for success here.
11:05As I go through some thank yous,
11:07I thank Richard Brown and Adam Bird as the co-sponsors for this bill
11:12to identify a problem that can be fixed and to champion this cause and to stick with it
11:18and to work with many of us who are here that have been trying to get something like this passed.
11:23We thank you for your dedication and the time it took to make this come to fruition.
11:29It's fantastic.
11:31We're very thankful for Governor DeWine, who's here, and again, who's chosen the school
11:35and chose this to sign the bill, to follow with this and to make this a reality.
11:41So we're so thankful for that as well.
11:44I'd also like to thank Dustin Hoffinger from the American Heart Association.
11:47He's right here.
11:49When our event took place last year, he kind of came in and was very helpful,
11:54almost like a mentor for us to tell us, here's what's in the mix.
11:59Here's what you could help us with.
12:00Here's how to do it.
12:01He had a calendar for us, and he shared so much with us.
12:04So I thank you for that guidance that you gave Kanan and I and for Pam,
12:07and we're proud to be part of this as well.
12:10As I continue with a couple more thank yous, the date of this event took place just 12 months
12:17and about 16 days ago, and it was one day after his 15th birthday.
12:22And that was a date that changed the lives of Kanan and I greatly.
12:27And both of us, as well as Kanan's parents, we see life a little differently now.
12:31And we're blessed.
12:33We understand that, and we're very, very thankful.
12:36And a few other thank yous that I want to pass along here that I think are very important here.
12:41As Governor DeWine said, there were requirements leading up to this law,
12:47but it was little bits and pieces.
12:49You know, as a coach who's been coaching for 34 years,
12:53Ohio High School mandated that we do CPR training, and so I've been through so many classes.
12:58Never thought I'd ever have to use it, but I still, going through classes,
13:02would visualize if this was to happen, how would I do this?
13:05What would be the next steps?
13:06How would I, you know, successfully reach this, this conclusion that we've done?
13:10And that was just one step.
13:12And then later on we have Lindsey's Law, and Lindsey's here as well,
13:16and we were then taught about sudden cardiac arrest,
13:19identifying the symptoms and knowing exactly what to do.
13:23And then I go to our school board with Trent Bowers and Randy Banks,
13:28who took the recommendations to follow up and have actually AEDs on our premise.
13:34It wasn't required, but they saw that as being something that was important.
13:38And then even more locally, Eric Thomas and Jeff Todd, my principal and athletic director,
13:43put through the emergency plan of action.
13:46And as I go through the Ohio High School coaching training
13:49and then I go through the Lindsey's Law training and I go through the emergency action plan,
13:53when our event happened last year on July 7th,
13:57I never thought I'd have to use it, but everything just came naturally.
14:02Everything just went the way it was supposed to, the way it was laid out.
14:06And our outcome is joyous. It's amazing.
14:11And when I say that, it's a great thing to say,
14:14but I also realize that there are some people here in this room who have been through a similar incident
14:20and the outcome wasn't as joyous.
14:23And those individuals are here, and those individuals, I think,
14:27are seeing a culmination of their hard work, what their foundations have done,
14:31and I think they feel maybe blessed today that where we are today,
14:36compared to yesterday or last year, it's changed. It's different.
14:40We're entering a new day.
14:42And so as Kana and I thank you for your support and thank you for being here,
14:48and I don't know, it wasn't just Kana and I that have led this bill to be where it is,
14:54but it's all the people that are in this room that have seen sadness,
14:58but today can see joy that this is going to make a difference.
15:02And so our hope, our wish is the passing of this law will save many lives into the future.
15:08So thank you all for being here, and thank you for signing this. It's amazing.
15:19Coach, thank you. Thank you very, very much.
15:22This bill is the result of the work of a lot of different people.
15:29Let me now ask Ohio House – let me now ask Speaker Stevens to come up,
15:38and then he'll be followed by Senate President Matt Huffman.
15:42Speaker?
15:50Thank you, Governor. It's really neat.
15:53I appreciate the perspective of the social studies teacher today,
15:57as we have, you know, the full circle of legislation,
16:01but also having three sons who competed in high school sports,
16:06and one of our teammates had a – almost had an incident but was found.
16:12It really does hit home, and hopefully this will affect people throughout the state of Ohio,
16:17and it will be a positive thing and something that shows, I believe,
16:22that we care about our kids in Ohio, and we care about our future.
16:26So anyway, thank you very much, and we'll let the next speaker go ahead.
16:31President, come up.
16:33Thank you very much, Governor.
16:35Thank you. Thanks, Speaker, and it's wonderful to be here.
16:37What a great community here at this school,
16:40and the stories are certainly compelling.
16:44We know that this is not, unfortunately, an isolated incident.
16:47It happens throughout the United States, indeed, throughout the world.
16:51So it is important to know, because it's great to see the civics teacher here,
16:59government major, University of Notre Dame,
17:02that these things don't just happen in a vacuum.
17:06These two representatives, who I hope will get a chance to talk about their journey
17:10and how this came together, and then, of course, with the help of the Speaker and the Senate,
17:17the Senate Health Committee, which is actually chaired by my cousin, Senator Steve Huffman.
17:21He's probably wondering why he's not up here speaking, but, you know, these are all things.
17:26We do a lot of work, and there's obviously the staff at the legislature that does all of this,
17:35but it really comes down to the sponsors of the bill who work it through their own house,
17:40bring it to the other chamber.
17:43So I want to congratulate them and the Speaker and, of course, the governor for having this,
17:47and thanks for including me today.
17:53Well, now very appropriate to have our sponsors come up who led this through the House.
18:00Representative Adam Byrd and Richard Brown sponsored this very, very important bill,
18:05and, again, I want to thank them for taking this action and for getting it through the legislature.
18:19Thank you all for being here.
18:20I'm Richard Brown.
18:21I represent Ohio's 5th District, which is primarily eastern and southeastern Franklin County,
18:27and I just want to say a few words.
18:31First, I want to tell you where I got the idea for this bill.
18:34It came to me from one of my constituents, and she's here today, Jennifer Dunaway.
18:38Jennifer, raise your hand.
18:40Jennifer is here with her husband, Nick, and four of their six children, and they are soccer players,
18:48and they love soccer, and Jennifer is one of my constituents,
18:53and she called me one day and said, hey, I've got an issue that I think might be something that you can help us with,
19:00and I said, I'm here to help.
19:02That's my job.
19:03What can I do?
19:04And she told me about when they travel around the state for soccer tournaments,
19:09how they sometimes went to places where there were no AEDs available,
19:14whether it's schools or sports and recreation locations in municipalities or townships,
19:20and she said, I think it would be good if we could do something about that.
19:25So I told her I would look into it, and I started doing research, and I looked into it,
19:30and I saw where the current law allowed for these things, but it was on a discretionary basis,
19:38and I said, well, you know, these ought to be mandatory.
19:40It ought to be a requirement that our schools and that some of our municipality-owned
19:45and operated sports and recreational locations have these devices.
19:49Why?
19:50Because they save lives.
19:52And so I dropped the bill.
19:54I asked Representative Byrd if he would be interested in jointly sponsoring this bill with me,
19:59and he very cordially and to my good luck said yes,
20:05and he was of the Democratic persuasion, he's of the Republican persuasion.
20:09We worked together in a bipartisan fashion in the Ohio House to bring this bill, this idea, to a reality,
20:17and there are so many people to thank.
20:19I've got a list of more than two pages of proponents, entities, corporations, the NFL,
20:26the Ohio American Heart Association, too many organizations, hospitals, medical associations to name,
20:33and I don't want to leave out any, so I'll leave it at that.
20:36And there were individuals, people who were affected in their personal lives by these SCAs,
20:44Sudden Cardiac Arrest, and the deadly nature of that affliction.
20:49And AEDs combined with or in combination with CPR can and will save lives,
20:57and Kanan Dickman is here today because of this.
21:00And what we wanted to do was pass a bill that was common sense, bipartisan,
21:07that will do what it did for Kanan and save lives of not just young people
21:12but everybody around the state of Ohio.
21:14And I am honored to be the person that was entrusted by my constituent to bring this idea forth.
21:21I thank Representative Byrd for everything he did to help me.
21:25I thank my legislative assistant, Jackie Mulvane, who is taking pictures right now,
21:30my LA, Josh Meeks, for all their invaluable help.
21:34I thank the Senate president for putting this bill on the floor.
21:38I thank the Speaker of the House, Jason Stevens, for shepherding this bill through the Ohio House.
21:44Without these gentlemen, it would not have occurred either.
21:47So it takes a village to do something like this, and I thank everyone who was involved.
21:54Thank you, and thank you, Governor, for having this event and signing this bill today.
22:00A couple years ago on a Monday night, my family stood riveted as we watched Monday night football
22:11and watched the life of DeMar Hamlin stand in the balance and his life be saved by an AED.
22:18And I think the whole nation watched that.
22:22It was only a couple of months later that a 17-year-old student in my district back home
22:28at Western Brown High School passed away from sudden cardiac arrest during the school day.
22:35He passed away.
22:38And so after those important events take place, the opportunity presented itself
22:44to join Representative Brown on this bill, and I quickly jumped at that opportunity
22:50because we all see the importance of doing everything that we can to save young people's lives.
22:55And not just that, but a lot of times at school, these AEDs will be present
23:00when Grandma and Grandpa come to watch a sporting event,
23:03and so we want to make sure that we're protecting people.
23:06One of the most important qualities that we should have as legislators is to be good listeners,
23:11and I see a lot of people in the room who came to the Statehouse and spoke in committee
23:18and lobbied legislators in the committee process on behalf of the merits of this bill,
23:24and I really thank those of you in this room that came, invested your time to come
23:29and talk to legislators about how important this bill was to you.
23:33And as was mentioned prior, a lot of times in the news cycle you hear about all of the times, perhaps,
23:40that Representative Brown's team and my team don't always see eye to eye on something.
23:46But that's not the way it is most of the time.
23:49Most of the time we work together on bills, and this is a great example,
23:53and so I'm so thankful for Representative Brown and myself's ability to work together,
23:59bring our teams together to do this.
24:02And so you've got to work this bill in the House.
24:05You've got to work this bill in the Senate.
24:07You've got to talk to committee chairs.
24:09You've got to talk to members of committees.
24:11You've got to sell them.
24:12You've got to bring in people who are experts in the field.
24:15And so a lot of work went into this.
24:17I'm so grateful for the relationship that Representative Brown and I have developed
24:21over the past year and a half working on this.
24:24I'm very thankful for Speaker of the House Jason Stevens, Senate President Matt Huffman,
24:28for shepherding this bill.
24:30And so a lot of work went into this, and I'm so grateful to see so many people here
24:33that are going to be impacted by this bill in a positive way.
24:36Thank you, Governor, for the time.
24:38Congratulations.
24:44I think we all do remember the night that DeMar Hamlin had a cardiac emergency
24:49on the field in Cincinnati, January 2nd, 2023.
24:56We also remember the heroism of the first responders, the job that they all did,
25:03an absolutely amazing job, the ones who were right down on the field immediately,
25:07and also the ones at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
25:11They all saved his life.
25:14DeMar was not able to be here today because, of course, of training camp,
25:18but he did write a letter of support.
25:21And to read it, I'd like to invite Paul Sparling to the podium.
25:25He's the former head athletic trainer for the Cincinnati Bengals,
25:28and he was there on that fateful night.
25:32Paul.
25:40Well, good afternoon.
25:42Thank you, Governor DeWine.
25:44My name is Paul Sparling, and I served for 30 years as the head athletic trainer
25:48and director of sports medicine administration for the Cincinnati Bengals.
25:53I was on the field at Pay Corps Stadium the night that DeMar suffered his cardiac arrest
25:59alongside the emergency medical team that we'd assembled for emergencies
26:04in the event they would ever occur on the field.
26:08I'm honored to be here representing the Smart Heart Sports Coalition,
26:13which is made up of major sports leagues and leading health advocacy groups
26:17across the country.
26:20With DeMar Hamlin's injury and recovery as an inspiration,
26:24the NFL led the launch of the coalition in 2023 to drive awareness
26:30and adoption of policies that are proven to prevent fatalities from sudden cardiac arrest.
26:37And with Ohio now soon to be implementing these measures today,
26:41I'm pleased to read a statement from DeMar, who, as you said,
26:45is a little tied up with training camp right now.
26:50So this is a letter from DeMar Hamlin.
26:54While I could not join you in person, I write to congratulate and commend everyone
26:59who was gathered this afternoon at Worthington-Kilbourne High School.
27:03Today's bill signing is a testament to leadership and teamwork,
27:07and I thank and applaud Governor DeWine, the leaders of the Ohio legislation,
27:13the bill sponsors, as well as the many Smart Sports Heart Coalition team members
27:20who came together to move this life-saving legislation forward.
27:26Again, from DeMar.
27:28As you know, I experienced my own sudden cardiac arrest on January 2, 2023,
27:33similar to the one that took place right here last summer.
27:39On the night of my emergency, the athletic training and medical staff on the sidelines
27:45followed an emergency action plan, performed CPR, and immediately used an AED.
27:54As my experience illustrated, the readiness and response of those
27:58at or near the scene of a cardiac emergency can save someone's life.
28:05It did mine.
28:08Because of what I've experienced, I'm working to make sure kids across the country
28:11have the same access to life-saving care that I did and when they might need it.
28:18And I will add this as well.
28:21It's not just the kids.
28:23It's the coaches, the parents, the grandparents, the fans,
28:27anyone within close proximity of an AED can have a second chance
28:33when it's implemented properly.
28:36The bill that the governor signs today will do just that.
28:40It will help protect kids by making AEDs readily accessible on school grounds
28:47as well as municipal and recreation locations where organized sporting events occur.
28:54It also, and this is important, requires emergency action plans to be adopted at these sites
29:01and for the staff to be trained in using AEDs,
29:05which complements Ohio's existing requirements that coaches be certified in CPR.
29:13These are common-sense, practical measures that provide the tools
29:17and the know-how necessary to turn bystanders into lifesavers.
29:23And in the words of DeMar,
29:26I call that ability to save someone in need a superpower.
29:32I'll always consider Ohio my second home and where I got a second chance at life.
29:37I'm delighted that this new law makes the places where young people learn, play, and compete safer,
29:46more resilient, and better prepared to respond to a cardiac emergency.
29:52This is a big victory for the young people and all the people throughout Ohio,
29:59and DeMar is delighted to join us in this team win.
30:05Again, on behalf of the Cincinnati Bengals, the National Football League,
30:09I, too, congratulate everyone who was a part of this.
30:13I can remember 30-plus years ago when I started as the head athletic trainer for the Bengals,
30:19going to ownership and mentioning that we needed to have AEDs on site,
30:24and I had some people look at me like, what?
30:28Well, now look where we're at.
30:30We've come a long, long way.
30:32It's not just having the AEDs.
30:35It's the emergency action plan, CPR training,
30:39and people that have the wherewithal, the willingness, and the know-how to implement those
30:44that can give people a second chance at life.
30:47Thank you very much.
30:54We're also honored to be joined today by Nicole Ward.
30:57She is the mother of Cleveland Brown Pro Bowler and former Ohio State Buckeye Denzel Ward.
31:04The Wards co-founded the Make Them Know Your Name Foundation
31:09after the unexpected loss of Nicole's husband, Paul Ward, Jr., to a sudden cardiac arrest.
31:16In the years since then, she and Denzel have worked to spread awareness about heart health
31:22and the importance of AEDs in Cleveland and in beyond.
31:26Nicole, will you please come up?
31:41Greetings and good afternoon, ladies, gentlemen, distinguished guests, senators, council,
31:50and our state governor, Mike DeWine.
31:53As Mike DeWine stated, I am the executive director of the Make Them Know Your Name Heart Health Foundation,
31:59and I am also the mom of Denzel Ward, who plays for the Cleveland Browns as a cornerback.
32:06Before I share my remarks, I would also like to share a statement that's provided by Denzel Ward.
32:13He wanted to attend today, but as mentioned, today is the first day of training camp,
32:19so he is not able to attend.
32:22But he did write this letter to say, hello, everyone.
32:26My name is Denzel Ward.
32:29Not only was I born and raised in Cleveland, but I was also blessed to attend The Ohio State University
32:35as a student athlete and now play in the NFL as a member of the Cleveland Browns.
32:42I take much pride in being from Ohio, especially on a day like today,
32:47with the signing of this vital, life-saving legislation.
32:52My father passed away at the young age of 46 while he was participating in a workout class in a gym.
33:00Although the gym had an AED, nobody was confident to use it,
33:07and my father did not receive the proper care until EMS arrived, and he passed away.
33:14Since entering the NFL, my family and I have started the Make Them Know Your Name Heart Health Foundation
33:21and worked tremendously hard in providing AEDs to the community and training people on AEDs and CPR use
33:31to ensure that no family has to go through what mine has went through.
33:36Today, we honor the legacy of my father and many others by celebrating this new legislation.
33:44I am both proud and thankful for the positive impact it will have on my home state.
33:51With much appreciation and gratitude, Denzel Ward.
33:55It is a great honor and yet a humbling experience to stand before you today on this significant occasion,
34:14the signing and enactment of House Bill 47.
34:18While I know we all share the excitement of this moment,
34:23it is impossible to ignore the devastating pain that has affected countless families, including my own.
34:31Children have lost their parents.
34:33Brothers and sisters have lost their siblings.
34:36Friends have lost their confidants.
34:38Parents have lost their sons and daughters.
34:41Husbands have lost their wives.
34:43And like me, wives have lost their husbands.
34:47In a blink of a moment, suddenly, to this heartbreaking epidemic known as sudden cardiac arrest.
34:55You see, when we speak of loss, it's often reduced to words like loss of mom, dad, friend, husband, or wife.
35:05And not that those words do not have significance, but the reality is it's so much deeper than that.
35:12For me, my husband was not just a spouse.
35:16He was my best friend, my high school sweetheart, my confidant, the father of my children, my partner in everything.
35:25We built a life together, shared dreams, faced challenges, and we laughed through it all.
35:32All of that was taken away suddenly on what seemed like a normal, ordinary day.
35:39That day was Monday, May 2, 2016.
35:44It was a day when normalcy as I knew it, again, I should say as we knew it, had changed forever.
35:54This is my story.
35:57On May 2, 2016, my husband went to work.
36:03He left like he would on any Monday.
36:07We talked that morning, and he said that he would talk to me soon.
36:13When he got to work and the day was over, he called me like he normally would.
36:20And when he called me, he was calling to ask if I would join him in participating in a spin class that we had attended together several times before.
36:30On this particular day, I had told him that I was not going to join him, and this was the first time that I had shared that or told him that I was not going to join him.
36:40The reason being is that my son, Denzel Ward, he had just come home for spring break from The Ohio State University.
36:47And also, I had participated in a step challenge and had worked on getting 10,000 steps, and I thought it was a perfect excuse for me not to go.
36:57So I told him that I'm going to stay back, spend some time with Denzel, and cook dinner, but call me when you're done with the class.
37:04And he told me that he would do so.
37:07So like I said, I had attended the class with him previously, so I knew the class was from 6 p.m. until 7 p.m.
37:13My phone rang around 7.20, and it was a call from his phone.
37:18So I was surprised.
37:20I picked up the phone and immediately asked, hey, is everything okay?
37:24Only to hear the voice on the other end of the line of a woman screaming frantically, saying that your husband has fallen off the bike.
37:31Your husband has fallen off the bike.
37:34I did not know what that meant at that time other than what she had shared, that he had fallen off the bike.
37:40But she told me that he needed to get to emergency and asked me which emergency room should that be.
37:46We decided it should be the closest one.
37:49She told me where she was taking him, and I remember talking to Denzel and telling him someone just called and said that your dad has fallen off the bike and we need to get to emergency right away.
37:59As we were driving to the ER, for some reason, I started to tell Denzel, you need to call your brother.
38:06You need to call your grandparents.
38:08You need to call your family.
38:09Tell them to meet us at the hospital.
38:11My husband, your dad, has fallen off the bike.
38:14My apologies.
38:16In any normal situation, you would probably think, why would you call the entire family to meet someone at the hospital because they've fallen off the bike?
38:24But I don't know.
38:25That's what I was led to do, and that's what we did.
38:28When I got there to the hospital and checked into the desk, a lady came up to me crying, and I'm thinking it was the same lady who called me on the phone saying, Nicole, I am so sorry.
38:38Your husband had fallen off the bike, and he stopped breathing.
38:43That was my first time hearing the words that he had stopped breathing.
38:47So now I started to understand that this was more severe than what maybe I initially thought.
38:53When I demanded myself back into the room and I saw them working on my husband, trying to revive him, only thing that I can think is, how did this happen?
39:04What is going on?
39:06I tried to do everything I can to help encourage him, to speak to him, to tell him he was strong, he can pull through this.
39:15My brother-in-law, my mother-in-law, they were in there with me.
39:19They tried to revive him, and twice they told me they had a heartbeat.
39:25So, of course, this was hope.
39:28We thought things were going to change.
39:30I felt like he was going to pull through.
39:33But then it was shortly after that, at 8-14 to be exact, when I then heard the words that he was no longer with us and that he had passed away.
39:45I didn't understand it because if you knew my husband and saw my husband, he seemed like the bill of health.
39:52He was fitness and working out and eating healthy.
39:55Those were all things that were important to him.
39:58But somehow this did take place.
40:01So afterwards, when I began to do my research to try to understand what had happened, that's when I learned about sudden cardiac arrest.
40:08And what I learned about sudden cardiac arrest is that it didn't have to be a death sentence.
40:13As long as someone is willing to step up and take action immediately.
40:17I also found out that at the time that no one, even though he was in a gym facility and that he was in a class full, in the spin class,
40:26that no one effectively performed CPR and no one used an AED, after I returned back to the facility, I counted the steps, was only 32 steps away.
40:38And I can ask the question as to why, but I'm not going to do that because there can be a lot of reasons why.
40:44It could be fear, lack of knowledge, all of those things.
40:48But I guess what I'm here to say is that learning how to do CPR and learning how to use an AED is vitally important.
40:59So at this point now, my husband and my son's dad are gone.
41:05I can never regain the love and the normalcy that I once knew.
41:09Sadly, what has become normal now are constant reminders that heart disease continues to be the number one killer in the United States.
41:19Claiming over 356,000 lives each year, a grim statistic that has persisted and increased since 1921.
41:29This has become our norm.
41:31It is also normal that sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death associated with heart-related fatalities,
41:39accounting for over half of all heart-related deaths.
41:43Disturbingly, less than 10% of those experiencing sudden cardiac arrest outside of the hospital will survive,
41:51meaning over 90% are sure to die.
41:55This has become our norm, and devastatingly, every minute without CPR and the use of an AED reduces the chances of survival by 10%.
42:05While knowing the average EMS response time is 7 to 12 minutes, we can all do the math, and this has become our norm.
42:14But today, my heart is full and I am overjoyed with the enactment of House Bill 47.
42:21We can redefine normalcy.
42:23With House Bill 47, we will create a new standard of access, preparedness, and instill the confidence to quickly and swiftly take action.
42:33It will become normal to enter our schools and recreational centers and not just hope, but rest in knowing that an AED is on site,
42:43tripling the chances of survival.
42:46It will be normal to have emergency preparedness plans in place so that everyone knows exactly what to do and how to respond,
42:54just as we know how to prepare for a fire drill or a tornado drill.
42:59This will be our normalcy.
43:01It will become normal for children, men, women, and people of all ages to take action and help to save lives
43:08rather than stand by and watch, often helplessly, as loved ones or someone they know lose their life simply because they didn't know what to do.
43:20The significantly increased chance of survival should be the norm, not the exception.
43:26I am proud to stand here today on behalf of my family and so many others here in this room,
43:34confident that House Bill 47 is a tremendous step in giving our state of Ohio life and the opportunity to enjoy many years of our loved ones as a normalcy.
43:47House of Representatives, Senator, Governor DeWine, and all who have worked tirelessly to pass House Bill 47,
43:54on behalf of my family, I just want to say thank you.
44:05Nicole, thank you very much for your comments and for everyone's comments.
44:10We hope that comments that we heard today, this press conference, this public signing of the bill,
44:20will inspire people across Ohio and across the country who are not required to do anything by this bill
44:28to take this up and to make sure that people are trained.
44:34There's two things we've learned today.
44:37One, you have to have the machine, and the other, you have to have the training and the understanding and the will to go ahead and use it.
44:45So we're now to the point of signing the bill.
44:48I'd like to invite everyone to come on up.
45:12For those of you who have not been to a bill signing, you may wonder why we have all these pens here.
45:17We have all these pens here because there are a lot of people that really work hard on this bill,
45:21and we want each one of them to have a bill.
45:24One thing that I try to do is make sure that everyone who comes actually gets involved in signing the bill,
45:32so you can tell us it'll take a little while.
45:35What is our date today?
45:42It's not pretty, actually.
46:31Somebody playing music or something.
46:40May I say a couple of lines?
46:42You don't have to be trained to use an AED.
46:45You just have to turn it on.
46:47It will tell you what to do.
46:50It is the most common misconception that people don't use an AED because they are not trained.
46:56All you have to do is turn it on.
46:59It will tell you exactly what to do.
47:01Thank you for telling us that.
47:04We also don't want people not to be afraid of it.
47:06We need them to understand that they can do that.
47:09You're absolutely right.
47:39I know when someone calls me on the phone and asks for Richard, I know we have a problem.
48:08I know they're not as close.
48:39I know they're not as close.
48:41I know they're not as close.
48:43I know they're not as close.
48:45I know they're not as close.
48:47I know they're not as close.
48:49I know they're not as close.
48:51I know they're not as close.
48:53I know they're not as close.
48:55I know they're not as close.
48:57I know they're not as close.
48:59I know they're not as close.
49:01I know they're not as close.
49:03I know they're not as close.
49:05I know they're not as close.
49:07I know they're not as close.
49:09I know they're not as close.
49:11I know they're not as close.
49:13I know they're not as close.
49:15I know they're not as close.
49:17I know they're not as close.
49:19I know they're not as close.
49:21I know they're not as close.
49:23I know they're not as close.
49:25I know they're not as close.
49:27I know they're not as close.
49:29I know they're not as close.
49:31I know they're not as close.
49:43All right.
49:45That's a go.
49:52Again, thank everyone who worked on this.
50:33All you need to do is to pull two back, and you've got your list open.
50:40You've got assistance from your team members, you've got a line.