New PA law mandates this life-saving tech during school sports. What that means for Centre schools
.jpg "State College’s Jake Hall hits the ball during a baseball game against Chambersburg in State College, Pa., on Tuesday, March 31, 2026.")
A state law signed last week will require all Pennsylvania schools to have an automated external defibrillator accessible at all sporting events and practices, joining nearly every other state in doing so, according to a leading advocate. Some, but not all, schools serving Centre County children will have to adjust to the new law, most of which takes effect in 2029.
“I will say that every athletic event has an athletic trainer who has an AED with them,” said State College Area School District Athletic Director Loren Crispell. However, the district will have to train coaches on AEDs and CPR to comply with another portion of the new law, Crispell said.
Coaches will not be alone in their required training, which must be made available biannually. Each school nurse, marching band director, physical education teacher and athletic trainer must be trained too. In addition to mandating training in and the availability of AEDs, the new law requires a trained individual to be in schools each day, and that schools must have in place a “cardiac emergency plan.”
Every school and school district serving Centre County had at least one AED per facility as of the last school year, according to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Education. An analysis prepared for legislators said an average AED costs about $2,000, plus maintenance costs.
Bellefonte Area “has started the process of training all staff members in our schools on CPR and AED,” Duffy Besch, the district’s athletic director, wrote in an email. Trainers are already trained on both, he added, and AEDs are already readily available.
David Peters, the athletic director for Central Mountain High School in Keystone Central School District, said the law would have no impact on schools, as staff are already trained and carry AEDs to events and practices.
Athletic directors for Penns Valley Area and Tyrone Area school districts said they’d have to review their policies. Tyler Fink of Penns Valley and Luke Rhoades of Tyrone both said their athletic trainers carry AEDs. Fink added that a second trainer will be onboarded next year to “further support compliance with the law.”
Bryce King, athletic director for Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy, said compliance wouldn’t be a heavy lift. Athletic staff is trained to respond to cardiac situations, he said, and the school will make sure an AED is present even off premises, such as where the baseball team practices outside State College.
Representatives for Philipsburg-Osceola and Bald Eagle Area school districts did not provide comment by deadline for this article.
The law was championed by the family of Greg Moyer, a 15-year-old basketball player from the Poconos who died two decades ago after a halftime heart attack. There was no AED on site, his family has noted.
Signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro Wednesday, the law was named in Moyer’s honor.
