Clinton calls for defibrillators in federal buildings

President Clinton Saturday said he wants devices for helping cardiac arrest victims placed in every federal building.

In his Saturday radio address, Clinton ordered the Health and Human Services Department and the General Services Administration to develop guidelines for placing automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, in federal facilities. The American Red Cross and the American Heart Association have volunteered to train federal employees in using the AEDs, Clinton said.

Some federal facilities, including the headquarters of the U.S. Geological Survey, already have AEDs installed. In addition, a bill (H.R. 2498) is winding its way through the House of Representatives that would require defibrillators in every federal building and provide liability protection to anyone who used an AED to help save someone's life.

Clinton said he is working with Congress to pass the legislation.

"If this entire nation comes together to place AEDs in airplanes, federal buildings and other key locations, we can save more than 20,000 lives every single year," Clinton said.