2016 Arkansas Code
Title 20 - Public Health and Welfare
Subtitle 2 - Health and Safety
Chapter 13 - Emergency Medical Services
Subchapter 13 - -- Public Access to Automated External Defibrillation Act
§ 20-13-1303. Definitions

As used in this subchapter:

(1) "Automated external defibrillator" means a device that:

(A) Is used to administer an electric shock through the chest wall to the heart;

(B) Has built-in computers within the device to assess the patient's heart rhythm, judge whether defibrillation is needed, and then administer the shock;

(C) Has audible or visual prompts, or both, to guide the user through the process;

(D) Has received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration of its premarket modification, filed pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 360(k);

(E) Is capable of recognizing the presence or absence of ventricular fibrillation and rapid ventricular tachycardia and is capable of determining without intervention by an operator whether defibrillation should be performed; and

(F) Upon determining that defibrillation should be performed, either automatically charges and delivers an electrical impulse to an individual's heart or charges and delivers an electrical impulse at the command of the operator;

(2) "Cardiac arrest" means a condition, often sudden, that is due to abnormal heart rhythms called arrhythmias. It is generally the result of some underlying form of heart disease;

(3) "Cardiopulmonary resuscitation" means a combination of rescue breathing and chest compressions and external cardiac massage used to sustain a person's life until advanced assistance arrives;

(4) "Defibrillation" means administering an electrical impulse to an individual's heart in order to stop ventricular fibrillation or rapid ventricular tachycardia;

(5) "Emergency medical services" means the transportation and medical care provided the ill or injured prior to arrival at a medical facility by a certified emergency medical technician or other health care provider and continuation of the initial emergency care within a medical facility subject to the approval of the medical staff and governing board of that facility;

(6) "Person" means any individual, partnership, association, corporation, or any organized group of persons whether incorporated or not; and

(7) "Ventricular fibrillation" means the most common arrhythmia that causes cardiac arrest. It is a condition in which the heart's electrical impulses suddenly become chaotic, often without warning, causing the heart's pumping action to stop abruptly.