CPR law is good step. Here’s what should be done next
It’s rare for legislation to get universal support in Pennsylvania. So the unanimous passage of a bill to modernize CPR instruction in public schools shows how critically it’s needed.
Senate Bill 115 by Sen. Tom Killion, R-Delaware, calls for instruction in “hands-only” CPR and the use of automated external defibrillators. It was signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Tom
Wolf.
But if lawmakers really want to make an impact, they need to go a step further and make sure all students take the training. The ability to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation is a skill that all students should leave school with, and that’s not required now in Pennsylvania.
While a lot of school districts teach it, Pennsylvania is one of 14 states that don’t mandate that CPR be taught or be a graduation requirement, according to the governor’s office.
Students are now expected to be able to “analyze and apply strategies for the management of injuries,” according to the State Board of Education’s academic standards for health, safety and physical education. Districts have the flexibility to determine how to satisfy that requirement, with CPR as one option.
Some lawmakers want to require that it be taught.
House Bill 686 by Rep. Ed Neilson, D-Philadelphia, would require high school students to take the instruction, which could be incorporated into health curriculum.
House Bill 818 by Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Centre, would require CPR certification to graduate.
Conklin wrote in a legislative memo that 88% of the annual 383,000 cardiac arrests occur without a trained health care professional nearby. That’s why it’s important for citizens to be able to step in until help arrives.
“The only way to be prepared for
situations such as these is to create a well-informed and trained community that is prepared to as young as possible to act when these emergency situations occur,” he wrote.
The state doesn’t track how many school districts offer training or require it to graduate, so I checked with a few. The Bethlehem Area and Parkland school districts told me CPR is taught, but not to all students. The instruction is optional or included in certain course areas.
The school districts that Sen. Killion represents offer CPR. His goal was to make sure the instruction is current and to introduce students to AEDs, said his chief of staff, Shannon Royer.
“Medical emergencies can befall any of us without forewarning. Correctly performed, CPR saves countless lives every year,” Killion said in a statement.
Royer told me the American Heart Association is lobbying for all states to update their curriculum standards, as Senate Bill 115 does.
Other organizations worked on the legislation as well, including the Pennsylvania State Education Association, PA Athletic Trainers Society, Independence Blue Cross, Pennsylvania Medical Society, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation, American College of Cardiology and the Foundation for Delaware County.
The legislation requires the model curriculum to be updated if national standards change.
When I was taught CPR in school, I learned to alternate a series of chest compressions with rescue breathing, otherwise known as mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Today’s “hands-only” instruction leaves out the rescue breathing, which some bystanders may be reluctant to do.
The compressions-only technique has been shown to be just as effective, according to the American Heart Association, at least in the first few minutes after an adult suffers cardiac arrest.
The association recommends a combination of rescue breathing and chest compressions for infants and children; for drowning and drug overdose victims; and for people who collapse due to breathing problems.
While all students should learn CPR in high school, we must be careful how we implement that requirement. The best way would be to teach it in health class, and make the testing part of that class grade.
While I believe most students should pick up this skill easily, requiring certification as a graduation requirement could be an impediment for some students. And that might not get the support of the governor, whose administration is trying to minimize the use of standardized testing to measure student achievement and readiness to graduate.
A certification requirement also would increase the cost that schools would incur to teach CPR.
Costs are a consideration, but this is one expense that would pay off if just one life is saved. This would be a good opportunity for hospitals, health associations and foundations to partner with schools to keep costs down and to protect their shared communities.