Rural Access to Emergency Devices

Authorizing Legislation - Section 313 of the Public Health Service Act

Program Description and Accomplishments
The Rural Access to Emergency Devices (RAED) Grant program is a key component of the Office of Rural Health Policy. The RAED program began in 2002 and provides funds to community partnerships which then purchase and distribute AEDs (automatic external defibrillators) to be placed in rural communities. The grants also provide training in the use of AEDs by emergency first responders. For the first four years of this program large grants were given to States through a competitive process and the States then worked with their rural communities to identify where to place the AEDs and how to conduct training in their use. In FY 2006, the program was restructured and began making direct grants to community partnerships. The program awarded four competitive grants in 2006 and an additional nine grants in 2007. It is expected that much of the demand for rural AED placement will be met by these awards.

This program was covered in OMB’s combined PART assessment of HRSA’s Rural Health Activities during 2003. The rural health activities received a rating of Adequate. (See earlier Office of Rural Health Policy Summary Request.)

Funding includes costs associated with grant reviews, processing of grants through the Grants Administration Tracking and Evaluation System (GATES) and HRSA’s electronic handbook, and follow-up performance reviews.

Funding History

Budget Request
There is no FY 2009 request for this program. The need for this program has decreased resulting from the distribution of over $45 million to communities for AED purchase, training, and placement. In addition, the price of AEDs has dropped significantly in the past few years making these devices more affordable.