The Janet Zilinski Memorial Fund (JZMF) was established in 2006 after the sudden death of eleven year old Janet Zilinski on August 10th, 2006. Janet, a seemingly healthy child, collapsed while jogging at cheerleading practice. CPR was started immediately but an Automated External Defibrillator was not onsite. Janet died later that evening at the hospital. More than two years later, it was discovered that Janet was born with a congenital heart defect known as bilateral hypoplasia of the right and left circumflex coronary arteries.
The Janet Zilinski Memorial Fund is a non-profit, 501 (c)(3) organization. They are dedicated to making NewJersey a heartsafe state for children by raising awareness of sudden cardiac arrest in youth . They are committed to taking action to improve survival rate in children by making Automated External Defibrillators(AEDs) readily available at schools, playing fields and youth sports and providing training in CPR and AED use. They are passionate about Janet’s Law and committed to having legislation approved making AEDs mandatory in NJ schools and youth sports.
As of September 2014, all New Jersey schools must comply with the following Janet's Law standards:
- All public and private schools K-12 to have an AED on site
- At least five school employees to be certified in CPR/AED
- An emergency action plan for a sudden cardiac event
- The AED to be located in an accessible, unlocked location (such as outside the school gym) with appropriate signage above the unit
- Signs throughout the school directing people to the AED
- The AED must be accessible after school hours for school athletic events and practices