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AED bill awaiting committee approval as Massachusetts legislative session winds down

BOSTON — There’s a time crunch on Beacon Hill for a bill aimed at saving the lives of students and athletes at schools across Massachusetts.

Supporters of a bill that would require Massachusetts schools to have automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, on hand say they are closer than they’ve ever been to victory.

But time is running out to seal the deal.

“People are frustrated because there are many people for this. It's just the process that's slowing it down a little bit,” Allyson Perron Drag, with the American Heart Association explained.

A family that lost two sons to cardiac issues spoke to FOX25 Monday, expressing frustration over the bill’s fate year after year.

Tuesday, FOX25 spoke with Representative Ted Speliotis, chair of what you might call the fine-toothed comb committee.

Its actual name is the Committee on Bills of the Third Reading, and it's charged with making sure bills are legally ready to hit the House floor.

That committee is now reviewing the AED bill.

“This is clearly a priority people are trying to make it work,” Rep. Speliotis (D-Danvers) said. “I don't think anyone's not trying to make it work. But can it be done?”

There's no doubt AEDs can and do save lives.

John and Luann Ellssesar lost their sons to sudden cardiac death and they say AEDs would’ve saved Michael and Timothy – if they had been available.

“We want to see AEDs like fire extinguishers,” John Ellsessar said. “That's how they should be, truthfully.”

Backers of the bill expressed frustration that, seemingly so near the finish line, progress through the state house has stalled.

“I'm really hopeful it's not going to take you know more kids on more fields and more people suffering cardiac arrest to move this,” Perron Drag said.

But with just seven days left in the session, the future of the AED bill remains uncertain.

“Whether they should be in hallways, whether they should just be on athletic fields, who should pick up the cost. Those are all question that we ought to be able to deal with. But can we deal with them in a few days? I don't know,” Rep. Ted Speliotis said.

>>Families face frustration as bill aimed at saving students' lives stalls

>>FOX25 Investigates: Easy Access to Defibrillators Limited, Despite Expansion