Sponsored by:
Assemblyman PATRICK J. DIEGNAN, JR.
District 18 (Middlesex)
Assemblywoman PAMELA R. LAMPITT
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
Assemblyman JOSEPH V. EGAN
District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)
Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO
District 20 (Union)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen Coughlin, Albano, Schroeder, Giblin, Webber, Assemblywomen Riley and Sumter
SYNOPSIS
“Children’s Sudden Cardiac Events Reporting Act.”
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee on March 7, 2013, with amendments.
An Act requiring the reporting of children’s sudden cardiac events and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Children’s Sudden Cardiac Events Reporting Act.”
2. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. A great deal of information is needed by schools and communities throughout New Jersey in order to improve the survival of children who experience sudden cardiac events;
b. The collection of relevant data and the documentation of sudden cardiac event outcomes are essential for policymakers and health care professionals to determine the most effective allocation of personnel, training, equipment, and resources to save the greatest number of lives; and
c. It is in the public interest to implement such measures as are necessary to provide for the collection of children’s sudden cardiac event data and to establish a Statewide database that will inform the efforts of schools, families, policymakers, and health care professionals to improve children’s sudden cardiac event prevention and survival.
3. As used in this act:
“Child” means a child who is 1[at least 12 years of age and no more than] under1 19 years of age.
“Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Health 1[and Senior Services]1.
“Department” means the Department of Health 1[and Senior Services]1.
“Health care professional” means a physician or registered professional nurse licensed to practice in this State.
“Registry” means the Children’s Sudden Cardiac Events Registry established pursuant to this act.
“Sudden cardiac event” means a death or 1[near death due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, sudden cardiac arrest, or other life-threatening cardiac condition as specified by regulation of the commissioner] aborted death due to a cardiac arrhythmia resulting in loss of consciousness requiring cardiopulmonary resuscitation, defibrillation, or other advanced life support measures to regain normal heart function1.
4. a. A health care professional who makes the diagnosis of a sudden cardiac event in a child, or who makes the actual determination and pronouncement of death for a child, as applicable, shall report the sudden cardiac event to the department on a form and in a manner prescribed by the commissioner.
b. The report shall be in writing and shall include the name and address of the health care professional submitting the report, the name, age, and address of the child, and other pertinent information as may be required by the commissioner; except that, if the child’s parent or guardian objects to the reporting of the child’s condition for any reason, the report shall not include any information that could be used to identify the child.
c. The commissioner shall specify procedures for the health care professional to inform the child’s parent or guardian of the requirements of subsections a. and b. of this section and the purpose served by including this information in the registry, as well as the parent’s or guardian’s right to refuse to permit the reporting of any information that could be used to identify the child.
5. a. The department shall establish and maintain an up-to-date Children’s Sudden Cardiac Events Registry, which shall include a record of all sudden cardiac events that are reported pursuant to this act and any other information that the department deems relevant and appropriate in order to effectuate the purposes of this act.
b. The reports made pursuant to this act shall be used only by the department and other agencies as may be designated by the commissioner, and shall not otherwise be divulged or made public so as to disclose the identity of any person to whom they relate. To that end, the reports shall not be included under materials available to public inspections pursuant to P.L.1963, c.73 (C.47:1A-1 et seq.) or P.L.2001, c.404 (C.47:1A-5 et al.).
c. A health care professional providing information to the department pursuant to this act shall not be deemed to be, or held liable for, divulging confidential information.
d. Nothing in this act shall be construed to compel a child to submit to medical or health examination or supervision by the department.
6. a. The commissioner shall establish the Children’s Sudden Cardiac Events Review Board in the department.
(1) The purpose of the board shall be to review and evaluate the information reported to the department pursuant to this act, and to study any other data, which the board shall seek and as may be made available to it to supplement the reported information, with respect to children diagnosed with cardiac conditions or reported to have had a sudden cardiac event in this State.
(2) The board shall make note of such factors as the age, gender, and ethnicity of each child, and the location of each sudden cardiac event, in its review of any information received by the board.
(3) The board may share its findings with other recognized entities that collect nationwide data on sudden cardiac events, except that the board shall not disclose to any person or entity outside the department any information that could be used to identify a child.
b. The board shall consist of 1[nine] 111 members as follows:
(1) the commissioner and the Commissioners of Children and Families and Education, or their designees, who shall serve ex officio; and
(2) 1[six] eight1 public members to be appointed by the commissioner as follows: one person who represents the American Heart Association; one person who represents the American Academy of Pediatrics, New Jersey Chapter; one person who represents the American College or Cardiology; one person who represents the New Jersey State School Nurses Association; one person who represents the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association; 1one person who represents the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association; one person who represents the Athletic Trainers’ Society of New Jersey;1 and one person who represents the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians.
c. The public members of the board shall serve for a term of three years, except that of the public members first appointed, 1[three] four1 shall serve for a term of two years, and 1[three] four1 shall serve for a term of three years. The public members shall serve without compensation but shall be eligible for reimbursement for the necessary and reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties, within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available for this purpose. Vacancies in the membership of the board shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments were made.
d. The public members shall select from among themselves an individual to serve as chairperson of the board, who shall be responsible for the coordination of all activities of the board and shall provide the technical assistance needed to execute the duties of the board.
e. The board shall be entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission, or agency as it may require and as may be available for the purposes of carrying out its responsibilities.
7. The commissioner, pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall adopt rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this act.
8. This act shall take effect on the first day of the seventh month next following the date of enactment, but the commissioner may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.