- THCA

Volume XXX, Number 5
May 2015

Final Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Requirements

DADS issued Provider Letter 15-13 outlining the new Automated External Defibrillator Requirements. This letter clarifies the effective date of April 29 and that surveys will begin on July 29, 2015. This provides for a three month time frame for nursing facilities to allow for installation of the devices and completion of any requisite training.

The provider letter states:

A new rule about AEDs in nursing facilities took effect on April 29, 2015. It requires a nursing facility to:

have at least one AED in a single story building, on each floor of a multiple story building, and in each house of a multiple small house model;

have at least one staff person with current training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and AED operation onsite at all times in a single story building, on each floor of a multiple story building, and in each house of a multiple small house model;

place the AED in an easily accessible location for trained staff;

have a licensed physician provide medical consultation or general oversight of the staff training on AED operation;

test and maintain the AED according to manufacturer’s guidelines;

maintain AED testing and maintenance records;

ensure the AED use is consistent with a resident’s advance directive;

notify the local emergency medical services provider of the location and type of AED in the facility; and

call 911 when an AED is used.

The new rule —Texas Administrative Code, Title 40, Chapter 19, Nursing Facility Requirements for Licensure and Medicaid Certification, §19.1935, Automated External Defibrillators — implements Texas Health and Safety Code, §242.159 that was added in 2009 and required NFs to have AEDs by September 1, 2014.

When deciding the placement of an AED so that staff can easily access it, please note that 40 TAC §19.301 requires a nursing facility to follow the 2000 edition of the Life Safety Code. In addition, the provisions of the Life Safety Code that govern projections into a corridor and mounted items on corridor walls apply to the placement of an AED.

Although the new rules are effective on April 29, 2015, DADS surveyors will not begin to survey for the new requirements until July 29, 2015.