Bill to put defibrillators in buildings is now law

Mayor Kirk Caldwell signed a bill into law Thursday that requires all city buildings and new buildings on Oahu to carry automated external defibrillators, or AEDs.

Caldwell, flanked by Emergency Services and Honolulu Fire Department officials, said at a news conference Thursday that the bill is to “make sure more people survive cardiac arrests.”

The bill, approved by the Council last month, mandates that AEDs be installed and maintained on each floor of every city building and new buildings constructed on or after Jan. 1, 2018, with an occupancy of 50 or more.

“You cannot put a cost on anyone’s life,” City Councilman Brandon Elefante said Thursday. “Having that option to save a life will truly make a difference.”

Fewer than 8 percent of people who experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital survive, but those odds increase by two to three times when a bystander can immediately apply an AED before paramedics arrive, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

To address legal concerns, the measure also references Hawaii’s good-Samaritan immunity laws, which shield people from liability who use AEDs to help save someone in cardiac arrest.

During the Council’s review, the Building Owners and Managers Association Hawaii had raised concerns that the city should not mandate AEDs in buildings unless it is accompanied with funding for training and to purchase the devices.

According to the American Heart Association, most AEDs cost between $1,500 and $2,000.

At the news conference, Sharon Maekawa applauded the bill, saying that her 28-year-old daughter who died from cardiac arrest at work in 2009 might be alive if there had been an AED in the building.

“Cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, of any age, anywhere, anytime,” Maekawa said.