Senate Resolution No. 459

BY: Senator PARKER

MEMORIALIZING Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim
June 1-7, 2021, as CPR-AED Awareness Week in the
State of New York

WHEREAS, The State of New York takes great pride in recognizing
serious health concerns, proclaiming official weeks to increase
awareness of such concerns, which affect thousands of New Yorkers; and

WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its
long-standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to
memorialize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim June 1-7, 2021, as
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Automated External Defibrillator
(AED) Awareness Week in the State of New York, in conjunction with the
observance of National CPR-AED Awareness Week; and

WHEREAS, Heart disease affects men, women, and children of every age
and race in the United States, and sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is a
leading cause of death in the United States, affecting approximately
356,000 people of all ages outside hospitals annually; and

WHEREAS, During this week alone, about 6,800 unsuspecting victims
will suffer SCA, most of them at home (about 70 percent); their hearts
will unexpectedly stop beating and blood will no longer flow to the
brain and throughout the body; they will collapse, stop breathing
normally, and may appear to be having seizures; in essence, they will be
dead and they will stay this way unless bystanders act immediately to
restore their heartbeats with CPR and defibrillation; and

WHEREAS, Unfortunately, only 46 percent of SCA victims receives the
help that they need from bystanders before EMS arrives at the scene; and

WHEREAS, For every minute that passes without CPR and
defibrillation, the chances of survival decrease by 7-10 percent; as a
result, only 10 percent of victims typically survive; survival rates
could double or triple if more people knew what to do when SCA strikes;
in fact, as many as 50,000 additional lives could be saved each year;
and

WHEREAS, In 2007, the United States Federal Government passed a bill
that recognized CPR and AED Awareness Week on a yearly basis; CPR-AED
Awareness Week helps to spread information and encourage more people to
learn how to properly perform CPR and use AED machines to save people's
lives; and

WHEREAS, This Legislative Body recognizes the critical importance of
increasing the survival rate from cardiac arrest and of incorporating
the tools of CPR and AED into aggressive programs in order to save
thousands of lives each year; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
memorialize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim June 1-7, 2021, as
CPR-AED Awareness Week in the State of New York; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of
New York.