Requires all trains and stations operated by the Long Island Rail Road and the Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company have automated external defibrillators as part of their medical emergency services program.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7041
SPONSOR: Brown K TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public authorities law, in relation to requiring all
trains and stations operated by the Long Island Rail Road and the
Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company have automated external defibril-
lators
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Requires all trains and stations operated by the Long Island Railroad
Company have automated external defibrillators.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Paragraph a of subdivision 1 of section 1266-b of the public
authorities law, as amended by chapter 396 of the laws of 2005. Provide
and maintain on each train and at each station an automated external
defibrillator.
Section 2: Subdivision 1 section 1266-f of the public authorities law,
as added by chapter 581 of the laws of 1985. Provide and maintain on
each train and at each station an automated external defibrillator.
Section 3: Identifies effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
According to the American Heart Association's Heart and Stroke Statis-
tics 2022 Update, cardiac arrest remains a public health crisis. There
are more than 356,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests every year in the
U.S., with nearly 90% of them being fatal.
Receiving immediate CPR and an electric shock from a defibrillator are
the key drivers of survival. CPR can help keep a stricken individual
alive until. the AED can be brought to the scene and deployed. But even
if CPR is properly administered, for every minute there is no defibril-
lator during a cardiac arrest, the person's chance of survival dimin-
ishes by about 10 percent.
According to a recent article in the Examiner, the United States has a
patchwork of regulations across the 50 states when it comes to require-
ments for AEDs in public places. In New York, all schools must have
AEDs, camps and gyms are also required to have AEDs, as are beaches and
pools with lifeguards.
But there are no requirements for public transportation. With approxi-
mately 135 million people using LIRR and Metro-North yearly the need for
defibrillators is obvious.
This bill will help to save lives by requiring all trains and stations
operated by the Long Island Railroad Company and the Metro-North Commu-
ter Railroad Company have automated external defibrillators.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24: A.10242
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a law.
Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule
or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effec-
tive date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such
effective date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7041
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 20, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. K. BROWN -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions
AN ACT to amend the public authorities law, in relation to requiring all
trains and stations operated by the Long Island Rail Road and the
Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company have automated external defi-
brillators
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph a of subdivision 1 of section 1266-b of the
2 public authorities law, as amended by chapter 396 of the laws of 2005,
3 is amended to read as follows:
4 a. The authority in consultation with the Long Island Rail Road is
5 hereby authorized and directed to implement a comprehensive medical
6 emergency services program, including an emergency response protocol,
7 not later than September first, two thousand five, for the benefit of
8 persons utilizing transportation and other related services of the Long
9 Island Rail Road. Such program shall include but not be limited to
10 provision for the following: The training of designated employees in
11 first aid, emergency techniques and procedures, handling and positioning
12 of stricken commuters, knowledge of procedures and equipment used for
13 respiratory and cardiac emergencies [and], an emergency response proto-
14 col for all employees, and provide and maintain on each train and at
15 each station an automated external defibrillator.
16 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 1266-f of the public authorities law, as
17 added by chapter 581 of the laws of 1985, is amended to read as follows:
18 1. The authority is hereby authorized and directed to implement a
19 medical emergency services program not later than April first, nineteen
20 hundred eighty-six, for the benefit of persons utilizing transportation
21 and other related services of the Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company.
22 Such program shall include but not be limited to provision for the
23 following: The training of conductors, trainmen and other designated
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10309-01-5
A. 7041 2
1 employees in first aid, emergency techniques and procedures, handling
2 and positioning of stricken commuters, [and] knowledge of procedures and
3 equipment used for respiratory and cardiac emergencies, and provide and
4 maintain on each train and at each station an automated external defi-
5 brillator.
6 § 3. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
7 law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any
8 rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its
9 effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such
10 effective date.
