HEARTS Act, backed by Bills S Damar Hamlin, signed into law

BUFFALO (AP) — The holiday week brought early good news for Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, with President Joe Biden signing into law a bill that aims to improve access to resources for heart health around the country.

Hamlin, 26, who suffered a cardiac arrest during a “Monday Night Football” game on Jan. 2. 2023, advocated for the bill and worked on it with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). The NFL’s Smart Hearts Coalition and others supported the effort.

The Cardiomyopathy Health Education, Awareness, and Research, and AED Training in the Schools Act of 2024 (HEARTS Act) was officially signed by the president on Monday after the United States Senate voted unanimously to pass the bill on Dec. 10. The House of Representatives passed it in September.

“It’s super dope, man. Shoutout to Senator Schumer. Shoutout to the Smart Hearts Coalition. Shoutout to the American Heart Association and to my Chasing M’s foundation,” Hamlin told ESPN when the Senate passed the bill. “We all came together to make some legacy off the field. I always wanted to, in my life, leave a legacy on the field, but to have a legacy and have meaning and purpose off the field.”

The law will help put automated external defibrillators in schools and make CPR training more accessible by creating a grant program at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to support CPR and AED training in elementary and secondary schools with the purchase of AEDs, funding AED and CPR training, and the development of cardiac emergency response plans.

Hamlin, who is now a starter for the Bills, was cleared to return to playing in the spring of 2023 and played in his first game on Oct. 1, 2023, appearing in the Bills’ 48-20 win over the Miami Dolphins.