A Tennessee law could save your child’s life in an emergency situation while they’re at school.

AEDs are now required inside every high school statewide. The law went into effect on Sunday.

The AED, or automated external defibrillator, delivers an electric shock to your chest. It can steady an irregular heartbeat or restart a heart if someone goes into sudden cardiac arrest.

The AED can make the difference between the life or death, helping to keep the person stable until a paramedic can arrive.

Experts say more than 6,000 people under the age of 18 go into cardiac arrest in the U.S. every year. More than half of them are students of the high school age.

Officials with the American Heart Association stress that they hope schools will never have to use an AED, but it’s better to have one just in case.

Students will also be required to receive training on how to use the device.