It’s rare to hear of young people dying from sudden cardiac arrest, but it happens: The CDC says roughly 2,000 young people under 25 die of it each year. It’s also one of the top causes of death for student athletes, alongside accidents and suicide.
That’s why MountainView Hospital cardiologist Alfred Danielian and state Assembly member Hanadi Nadeem (D-Las Vegas) are pushing for the passage of the so-called “Smart Heart Law” this legislative session.
The law would mandate AEDs (automated external defibrillators) in public and private high school athletic facilities. AEDs are used to help shock a person’s heart back to normal functioning after it goes into arrest. This would bolster an existing law that demands at least one AED in schools and offsite athletic facilities, but not onsite ones.
Danielian says AEDs are critical at sports venues and gyms, as opposed to being locked away in a principal or nurse’s office far from the action.
“When used immediately, AEDs can triple survival rates,” he adds. “Without immediate intervention … chance of survival drops seven to 10 percent for every minute that passes. So that means that after just five minutes, chance of survival is about 50 percent.”
In January 2023, 16-year-old Ashari Hughes collapsed from a heart attack during a flag football game in Las Vegas. Her father, Enttroda Hughes, has partnered with Danielian and Asm. Nadeem to support the AED bill.
Enttroda Hughes says he wants parents to “have a peace of mind that when we’re not able to make it to games, or we're not able to make a practice, that (kids) are in really good, capable hands, and that all of our schools are prepared for situations like this.”
Guests: Dr. Alfred Danielian, cardiologist, MountainView Hospital; Enttroda Hughes, Ashari Hughes’ father and advocate for the Smart Heart Law
