135.26  Automated external defibrillator grant program.
  The department shall establish and implement an automated external defibrillator grant program which provides matching funds to local boards of health, community organizations, or cities for the program after standards and requirements for the utilization of automated external defibrillator equipment, and training on the use of such equipment, are developed at the local level. The objective of the program shall be to enhance the emergency response system in rural areas of the state where access to health care providers is often limited by providing increased access to automated external defibrillator equipment by rural emergency and community personnel. A local board of health, community organization, or city may submit an application to the department for review. The department shall establish criteria for the review and approval of grant applications by rule, and may accept gifts, grants, bequests, and other private contributions, as well as state or federal funds, for purposes of the program. The amount of a grant shall not exceed fifty percent of the cost of the automated external defibrillator equipment to be distributed to the applicant and the training program to be administered by the applicant at the local level. Each application shall include information demonstrating that the applicant will provide matching funds of fifty percent of the cost of the program. Grant recipients shall submit an annual report to the department indicating automated external defibrillator equipment usage levels, patient outcomes, and number of individuals trained. For the purposes of this section, “rural” means a geographic area outside an urban or suburban setting with a population of less than fifty thousand persons.
2004 Acts, ch 1034, §1, 2; 2006 Acts, ch 1181, §7