The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Woman pushes for more automatic defibrillators after husband’s death
RIDGEFIELD — Edward Brennan, 50, was a beloved coach and athlete in Ridgefield. He worked out daily until December 2012 when he collapsed during a cardiac event at a Ridgefield health club.
“When my husband collapsed at the gym, there was no AED (automatic external defibrillator), no trained person there to help him,” Suzanne Brennan, his wife, said.
It’s possible a defibrillator could have saved Brennan, but minutes later, he was dead.
Today, AEDs are not required at Connecticut health clubs and gyms, but Suzanne Brennan is pushing to change that.
Eight years after her husband’s death, Brennan is the driving force behind Senate Bill 110.
Proposed by state Sen. Will Haskell, D-Westport, and state Rep. Aimee Berger-Girvalo, D-Ridgefield, it would require Connecticut athletic facilities and health clubs in the state to have AEDs on-site with at least one staff member or volunteer trained to use the machine.
Suzanne reached out to local lawmakers about the need for the law. She looks at her friends who continue going to the gym and worries. She believes Connecticut can “do better.”
“I think knowing what we know and not doing something about it is unacceptable,” Brennan said. “It’s indisputable that a place, where people are intentionally raising their heart rates, that it would not be required at the very minimum to have
an AED device on-site and a trained staff person.”
The American Heart Association indicated cardiac arrest is “a race against the clock.”
An American Heart Association study found the combination of immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation with defibrillation can more than double a victim’s chance of survival, but for every minute an individual goes without CPR and defibrillation, survival chances decrease by seven to 10 percent.
Communities with AED programs including CPR and AED training have “achieved survival rates of 40 percent or higher for cardiac arrest victims,” the report said.
The bill is being considered by the legistlature’s Public Health Committee. Connecticut legislation requires AEDs be provided at certain locations across the state including public golf courses and schools, but not at health clubs.
Some health club chains have enacted AED requirements. The Connecticut YMCA and Orangetheory
fitness are two franchises that have done so.
Orangetheory Senior Director of Health Science and Research Rachelle Reed said AEDs are required in every club in addition to mandatory training for all coaches. Reed thinks the bill is “a step in the right direction.” Alexandra Hall, YMCA aquatics and safety director, said the YMCA implemented a similar rule because AEDs save lives.
Other states, such as Massachusetts, have adopted similar laws mandating AEDs at public health facilities.
Girvalo said the bill is supported by individuals on both sides of the aisle, she feels it will move forward for a vote. Haskell said he wouldn’t have necessarily known about the need for such legislation had it not been for Brennan, and others wouldn’t have seen the opportunity to reform something that “just makes all the sense in the world.
“It is going to save lives and it is something that must pass the Public Health Committee this year,” Haskell said.