Chairman Delperdang opened the hearing on SB379.

Nick Myers, Office of Revisor of Statutes, provided an overview of the bill (Attachment11) and responded to questions from the committee members.

Proponents:

Ed Klumpp on behalf of SB11 Study Committee (Attachment12) (Attachment13) provided the committee with a copy of the Study Committee report and gave an overview, stating expanding Kansas's capacity for structured medical 911 advice would improve emergency medical outcomes statewide. He added, however, because of disparities in staffing call volume, and financial capacity, a statewide mandate is not recommended.

Con Olson, Kansas Emergency Medical Service Association (Attachment14) urges the support of statewide implementation of Emergency Medical Dispatch, EMD and Telecommunicator CPR, T-CPR in Kansas. 

Kari Rinker, American Heart Association (Attachment15) would like to make sure cities, towns, and counties continue to have the option to build on local progress and pass laws to help their communities thrive. She added the bill is not state government overreach, instead, it establishes a floor for basic 911 health and safety response to protect Kansans when the lives of their loved ones hang in balance.

Nancy Holland, American Heart Association Board Advocacy Committee Member (Attachment16) believes equipping dispatchers with the skills to deliver CPR instructions over the phone, would significantly increase the chances of survival for individuals experiencing cardiac arrest.

Reagan Herrman, Emporia (Attachment17) 16 years old, shared a story of when she was 13 playing basketball and fell to the floor, several heroic people leaped into action beginning CPR and she began breathing. She explained, now she advocates for all 911 dispatchers to be trained in CPR for families all over the country so they can rely on help in a crisis situation.

Amarion Sanchez Thompson, Hutchinson (Attachment18) at 18 years old, he suddenly fell into cardiac arrest a few months ago, luckily his mother was home and provided life-saving CPR due to a 911 telecommunicator on the other end of the phone guiding her through the process until first responders arrived. He asked to please pass the bill requiring all dispatchers receive training to coach callers through CPR.

William Delfs, Abilene (Attachment19) shared a story of his 16 year son collapsing at school during track and his coach administered CPR until the paramedics arrived, his son had Brugada Syndrome, a genetic heart disease. He added, Kansas communities need well trained telecommunicators to be prepared to act no matter where people are.

Traci Poore, Delphos (Attachment20) whose family live in a rural area that had a friend building fence suffer a heart attack and passed away by the time the ambulance arrived, at least 20 minutes after calling 911. She added if they would of known how to or had access to instructions on how to preform CPR properly, the outcome could have been different.

Heidi Gillespie, 911 Medical Dispatch Director (Attachment21) who serves as a 911 medical dispatch director in rural Nebraska. She added telecommunicator CPR saves lives in communities by answering every emergency call can change someone's life forever.

Sheriff Jacob Welsh, Chase County (Attachment22) explained Kansas was a leader in Next Generation 911 with reliable, interoperable statewide architecture that many states are still working to build, adding this will would build strength without compromising system stability or local control. He supports the bill as introduced, however, urges the committee to remove the amendment that mandates the training and instruction.

WRITTEN ONLY TESTIMONY:

Rex Bruce, USD 226, Sublette (Attachment23)

William Rinkenbaugh, Butler Community College (Attachment24)

Jennifer Myers, USB 204, Bonner Springs (Attachment25)

Crystal Presser, Overland Park (Attachment26)

Kaitlyn Forsythe, RN and Dr. Malloy, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City (Attachment27)

Kevin Harker, Leawood (Attachment28)

Allen Ackland, Lawrence (Attachment29)

M. Leann Dickson,RN, LMH Cardiac Rehabilitation, Lawrence(Attachment30)

Dr. Matthew C. Bunte, Arrowhead Cardiovascular Consultants (Attachment31)

Stephanie Moss, Kansas Board of Directors, American Heart Association (Attachment32)

Sheriff Kris Casper, Wichita County, Leoti, Kansas (Attachment33)

Chairman Delperdang recessed the hearing on SB379

Chairman announced the next committee meeting would be Tuesday, March 3 and adjourned the meeting at 10:50am.