Ohio House Arts, Athletics and Tourism Committee - 3-24-2026

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Chair Miller. Here. Vice Chair Heiner. Here. Ranking Member Jerrolds. Checked in. Representative Dieter. Here. Representative Gambari. Representative Grimm. Here. Representative Leray. Checked in. Representative Matthews. Here. Representative McNally is excused. Representative Rob Laysdale. Here. Representative Swearengin. Checked in. Representative Thomas. Checked in. Representative Upchurch. Present.

Chair Heiner for a motion. I move to amend House Bill 687 with Substitute Bill 136 underscore 2251-2.

So the substitute bill comes from the bill's sponsor and would make several changes. It mandates the placement of AEDs in any other school-related location, in quotes, required by the model plan developed by the Ohio Department of Health that utilizes standards from national recognized organizations focused on emergency cardiovascular care. The model plan must be based on standards from nationally recognized organizations focused on emergency cardiovascular care and must clearly identify the locations of all AEDs. It seeks to create uniformity for schools to ensure they have proper plans that will result in positive outcomes. Rather than direct training, it includes competency checks for employees to utilize an AED system. And it clarifies that this applies only to employees who may be on site as part of a regular schedule and does not mandate an employee to be on site.

Welcome. Thank you guys very, very much. I appreciate your time. We are the parents of Brendan Snyder, who this bill was started for. our son, Brendan. First of all, I do want to thank all of you. We've been watching this process, and it's been very refreshing, actually. What started as a basic bill goes through the committees. Everybody comes up with good ideas, and we build an even better bill. So it's nice to see you guys all coming together and making good solutions to our issues. But anyway, Brendan, our son, So August of 2023, he had a cardiac arrest in a plan of fitness. And he was working there, actually, in the evenings. So he would work there in the evenings, and then he was working from home during the day. But he was in the gym, and he fell off, and one person helped him. But it was obvious that nobody knew any CPR They and I can I go into the rest of this as I come along But anyway he a graduate of OU He was a double major business analytics and marketing and he was a business honors student. So anyway, 24. After the autopsy, we found that he had what's called a genetic issue or the migenic cardiomyopathy. And we've adopted our five youngest kids. We have no history of any medical, so we had no clue that this was even in the family. Actually, it's very common. One in 5,000 have this gene. So it's not very uncommon. And as we've been going through this process, we've met other people who now have this. the nurse that took care of my mom at the memory care and the full nursing care. She lives with it, has an IED in her chest. Once we got all this information, we did Brendan's birth mom. We got a hold of her, and she has it. In fact, she's had heart damage, so she's got an IED in her now. Her three other boys all carry it, and her sister. So anyway, going on to this bill, we've been looking at it. I love the fact that you guys have training. It was very evident in the video during the episode that nobody had training. And what we found through litigation was that the training was all falsified. So they were trained on paper, but none of them were trained. And they were Brennan's friends, so it was particularly hard for them, too, to watch the friend on the ground and not know what to do. They did not have an action plan. They did not even realize that there was an AED at the front desk. When they did find out through 911, he unzipped it, looked at it, zipped it back up, and put it back away. So paramedics got there at 10 minutes and 44 seconds. They administered the AED to him at 12 minutes and like 35 seconds, somewhere in there, and they revived him. And he'd coded two more times on the way to the hospital, but they revived him both times. And every organ came back. He donated all of his organs, but his brain was gone. So by that weekend, it was evident that there wasn't going to be a good resolution for Brendan for us. Anyway, I love the fact that you put the wording in the bill about the liability, because I think when I watched the video, one guy helped Brendan. And I think everybody else is afraid to engage. and they're either afraid to engage or there were people who, I think it's gotten much worse since COVID, but everybody's in their own world with the earbuds. And I mean, kids looking at Brendan on the ground, stepping around him to get on the equipment to continue their workout. Just things that need to be brought about. But this bill is doing so much for all of this. And it looks positive. I like the fact that all of you have been encouraged by it and that you've all brought really good things to the bill, things that are better than what we thought when we started all this. So with this, I'm hoping that we can have a Brendan's Law and then move on, and we're going to move on to the Archdiocese to work on the Catholic schools after this. So I have a picture of the boy. He's our son. This is who this all started for, Ms. Jean Schmidt. She, her husband's buried here. Our boys are buried right here. And so she's, we've seen her out at the, it's an odd place to meet, but that's where we've run into her. She's been very helpful. So I appreciate you guys very much.

Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Hi, good afternoon. Welcome Dustin. Hello, thank you. Chair Miller, Vice Chair Heiner, Ranking Member Gerald's and members of the House Arts, Athletics and Tourism Committee. This is a new committee for me. It's good to see you all. Thank you for the opportunity today to support House Bill 687. This legislation is a major step forward in protecting Ohio's students and athletes. By ensuring our schools and recreational centers are prepared for a sudden cardiac arrest event, we are hoping to move from a hope-based strategy to an evidence-based one. At the American Heart Association, we've seen that the biggest barrier to saving a life isn't just the lack of equipment. It's a lack of a clear, practiced plan. Right now, Ohio has a patchwork of safety protocols, and House Bill 687 fixes this by requiring school districts, non-chartered public schools, community schools, and apparently eventually Catholic schools, to adopt a formal emergency action plan. Whether a school uses the model plan created by the Department of Health or builds their own, this bill ensures that those plans are rooted in the same nationally recognized evidence-based standards. One of the most important aspects of this bill, as it moves past paper compliance, a plan sitting in a binder on a shelf will do nothing to save a life. House Bill 687 requires the state's model plan be practiced at least quarterly. and this kind of repetition builds the muscle memory necessary to act when those seconds count. By pairing those quarterly drills with an annual review of the plan, review and evaluation, by the way, we ensure that Ohio schools stay ready when a need to execute the plan arises. The safety of students, school staff, and visitors will be enhanced when cardiac emergency response plan teams are trained and empowered to administer life-saving care until emergency medical services arrive. We also know that cardiac emergencies don't stop at the door. Many of these events happen in the gym, the local pool, or the neighborhood ball field. House Bill 687 correctly extends these requirements to sports and recreation locations during organized youth activities, ensuring that the chain of survival follows our children wherever they are active. Finally, this bill addresses the hesitation factor, as the gentleman mentioned earlier. It reinforces the protections for Good Samaritans, providing immunity for those who step up and use an AED in good faith. Most importantly, it clarifies that this protection applies regardless of the person's training level. We want bystanders to act without fear, because in those first few minutes, any attempt to help is better than doing nothing. Sudden cardiac arrest remains a leading cause of death, but with a practiced plan and an AED nearby, these survival rates can jump by as much as 70%. House Bill 687 will give us the framework to make those survival stories the norm in Ohio, rather than the exception. I respectfully urge the committee to favorably report House Bill 687 and would also note that there are multiple organizations and individuals that were part of the Smart Heart Sports Coalition from last General Assembly that have submitted written testimony in support as well. I'll be happy to answer any questions if there are any.

You got off easy.

Kanan.

Yes.

Thank you. Thank you for your time.

to support House Bill 687. Thank you very much for your testimony, Kanan. You definitely are a living, breathing, walking miracle, aren't you? I think maybe I'll ask this question on behalf of the committee. How are you doing? This is just fairly recent, just a few years ago. How are you doing? Yeah, I'm

Excellent, excellent. Ranking member, do you have a question?

Ranking member Gerald has a question.

Thank you.

Yeah. Yeah, so after the event, what kind of unfolded has just been awesome. The seriousness, I guess, that everyone's taking in this situation. The school gave a lot of props to Coach Sprunger for saving my life, which is deserved. But, yeah, I've met families that have gone through similar situations just through these kind of things, testifying. I work with the Matthew Mangine Foundation to, I guess, advocate for stuff like this, and I'm really close with them. And, yeah, I guess the school just shed a lot of light to the situation in that time and continue to shed light to that situation.

Just a point of personal privilege.

Thank you.

Keep doing it. Keep doing it. I will. Thank you.