Support AED's for NJ Youth Sports

 

    Since our son, Michael, passed away while playing Organized Youth Roller Hockey, we have a vested interest in seeing these two bills, A1451 and S514 passed. These two bills state that any organized Youth Athletic events that take place on a Public field, ie a Recreation Department property need to have AED's  present within a 3 minutes. This was in 2015 and Gov Christi vetoed our bill. 

   Now, Senator Beach of District 6 and Assemblymen Simonsen & McClellan of District 1 have reintroduced S514 & A1451 The Michael Fisher Law. It is currently in committee and needs a push to get out of Committee.

 

Please reach out to Assemblywoman Haider & Senator Vitali to get this up for vote in their committees.

 

   We would ask that all New Jersey Residents, please, contact your State Reps here. 

 

   Through our Foundation we have provided AED's to the Dennis Twp Youth Hockey Association, Middle Twp Youth Hockey Association, the Atlantic City Rescue Mission, and Lower Twp High School Athletic Department. By passing these 2 Bills all Organized Youth Sports would be required to have AED's on hand for all practices and games. While we never hope to have to use these AED's on anyone, do we really want our children's life to be lost because a relatively cheap device wasn't available?

 

When an AED is present and used, survival after sudden cardiac arrest in young athletes can approach 90%.
A landmark study led by Dr. Jonathan Drezner, director of the University of Washington Medicine Center for Sports Cardiology, examined 132 cases of exercise-related sudden cardiac arrest in young competitive athletes across the United States. The average age of the athletes was 16. Nearly all of the events (93%) were witnessed. Overall survival was 48%. But when an automated external defibrillator (AED) was on-site and used during the resuscitation, survival soared to 89%.
“Exercise-related sudden cardiac arrest is almost always a survivable event when you have prompt recognition by witnesses, proper resuscitation, and an AED close by,” Drezner said. “Forty-eight percent is far better than the overall survival rate for sudden cardiac arrest in the U.S. But this data tells me that a lot of young athletes we should be saving are dying.”
More recent research confirms and builds on these findings. A larger 9-year national study of 641 young competitive athletes (published in 2025) found overall survival of 49%, with survival from arrest during exercise rising to 57%. Survival rates improved significantly over the study period, reaching as high as 72% for exertional arrests in the final year examined. The presence of an on-site AED and trained responders continues to be one of the strongest predictors of survival.
The original study also revealed troubling racial disparities: survival was 60% among white non-Hispanic athletes, compared with 33% among Black athletes and 20% among Hispanic/Latino athletes. The newer research shows these gaps persist. After adjusting for other factors, Black athletes still had substantially lower survival rates than white athletes. Researchers believe unequal access to AEDs, athletic trainers, and emergency preparedness in under-resourced schools is a major driver.
Drezner has long advocated for greater public investment in AEDs at high schools and athletic fields, along with training so coaches and staff recognize the signs of cardiac arrest and respond immediately. “We should be better prepared than we are,” he has said. “These are our kids.”
The message is clear and urgent: sudden cardiac arrest in young athletes is often witnessed and highly survivable — but only if an AED is nearby and used without delay. Placing AEDs at school gyms, fields, and recreational sports venues, and making sure the adults supervising those activities know how to use them, can mean the difference between life and death.