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119-hr-1466119th Congress

Cardiac Arrest Survival Act of 2025

Sponsored By: Representative Franklin, Scott [R-FL-18]

Introduced

Summary

A national baseline of civil immunity for automated external defibrillator (AED) use would be created to encourage more public AED deployment and bystander response to sudden cardiac arrest. The bill sets uniform rules for who is protected when an AED is used and when lawsuits are allowed.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

3 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.

Clear definitions for AED use and harms

The bill would define what counts as an automated external defibrillator. It must detect dangerous heart rhythms, decide if a shock is needed, and deliver a shock, and be sold under federal medical-device rules. If a device can run in manual or automatic mode, it would need to be set to automatic. The bill would define “perceived medical emergency,” “harm,” “economic loss,” “noneconomic losses,” and “cautionary signage.” Economic loss could be recovered only as allowed by the state’s own rules. These definitions would take effect upon enactment.

Legal shield for AED rescuers and sites

This bill would protect most people who use or try to use an AED in an emergency from civil lawsuits. It would also protect property owners, tenants, and managers where an AED is used or taken from. AED owners would be protected unless harm was caused by not keeping the device maintained under the maker’s guidelines. The shield would still apply if there was no signage, no registration, no training, or no supervision. It would not protect willful or criminal acts, gross negligence, reckless conduct, medical professionals or health-care entities acting on the job, or an owner who leased an AED to a health-care entity when that entity’s staff caused the harm. These rules would take effect upon enactment.

Uniform federal rules for AED lawsuits

This bill would set one federal baseline for AED lawsuit immunity. It would apply in federal civil cases and in federal areas that use state law when federal law is silent. It would not create a new claim or require any building to install an AED. It would override state law only when state law would allow a lawsuit that this bill would block. It would keep current protections for federal employees and officers. State courts could apply these rules, and using them would not make a case a federal case by itself. These rules would take effect upon enactment.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Franklin, Scott [R-FL-18]

FL • R

Cosponsors

  • Rep. Connolly, Gerald E. [D-VA-11]

    VA • D

    Sponsored 2/21/2025

  • Rep. Bilirakis, Gus M. [R-FL-12]

    FL • R

    Sponsored 2/21/2025

  • Rep. Soto, Darren [D-FL-9]

    FL • D

    Sponsored 2/21/2025

  • Rep. Cammack, Kat [R-FL-3]

    FL • R

    Sponsored 2/21/2025

  • Rep. Calvert, Ken [R-CA-41]

    CA • R

    Sponsored 2/21/2025

  • Rep. Van Drew, Jefferson [R-NJ-2]

    NJ • R

    Sponsored 2/21/2025

  • Rep. Cline, Ben [R-VA-6]

    VA • R

    Sponsored 2/21/2025

  • Rep. Beyer, Donald S. [D-VA-8]

    VA • D

    Sponsored 2/21/2025

  • Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-VA-7]

    VA • D

    Sponsored 11/17/2025

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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