Washington Advocates take on Capitol Hill

Last week, advocates from across Washington State traveled across the country to visit the other Washington! Seven advocates from Seattle, Spokane Valley, and both the North and South Sound met with seven congressional offices to advocate for the Access to AEDs Act and the HEARTS Act during the American Heart Association’s 2024 Federal Fly-In.

Our Washington Survivors, Chad Brown and Kyra Smithlin, shared their story of survival thanks to their families knowing how to perform CPR and the Automated External Defibrillators that saved their lives once EMS arrived. By preventing others from facing similar hardships, they hope for this legislation to pass and help save lives.

Joining us were other dedicated advocates, Karen Dionne, Claudette Kenmir & Holly Tucci who are also survivors of stroke and congenital heart defects. Through their personal experiences and desire to make sure lives are saved they underscored the critical importance of having AEDs and emergency plans in place in schools. Knowing that people are trained to save lives in the community provides an added layer of safety and reassurance for survivors across the country. Together, we advocated for these two policies currently making their way through Congress to ensure that schools have the resources they need to ensure that more lives can be saved.