Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

New Law Requires CPR Training for All Students by High School Graduation

heart.org

  Public schools across New York State are getting ready to add something new to their health curriculum.  Starting this October, hands-only CPR training will become a graduation requirement for all high school students.  This is part of the new CPR for Schools law, which was approved yesterday by the New York State Board of Regents.  Paramedic Robbie MacCue helped lobby for the law on behalf of the American Heart Association.  He says the first five minutes of a cardiac arrest are the most critical, and too often, people like 5-year-old Emily don’t receive the help they need before an ambulance comes. Emily fainted at school, but no one there checked to see if she was still breathing.

"Didn’t know what to do or they weren’t trained at all, and obviously didn’t recognize the signs that she wasn’t breathing and didn’t start CPR right away," said MacCue. "So by the time the ambulance got there 6 or 8…maybe it was 8 minutes later in that case for a child that had fainted, it was too late."

90-percent of cardiac arrests that happen outside of a hospital are fatal, and less than half of those victims get immediate help before professionals arrive. But MacCue says CPR training in schools can make a difference. For an 11-year-old boy, the training saved his father’s life.

Mom was trying to do CPR and he said, it’s recorded on the 911 line, “Mom, get out of the way. You’re not doing it right.” So he gets right in there. I talked to the first responders, and they said he was doing some of the best CPR they’ve seen.  

cpr_11yroldstory.mp3
MacCue recalls how training of a student in Albany paid life-changing dividends.

One of the main reasons why most victims do not receive CPR immediately is because a witness is afraid they will hurt the victim if they do not administer  it correctly. However, MacCue says there are no risks involved when the attack untreated may cost the victim their life. 

FACTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION

  • Over 326,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests happen annually in the United States
  • If performed immediately, CPR can double or triple a cardiac arrest victim's chance of survival
  • 70 percent of out-of hospital cardiac arrests happen in homes or residential settings
  • 70% of Americans do not act during a cardiac arrest because they don't know how to administer CPR or are afraid of hurting the victim
  • You can watch a 60-second CPR demo video at heart.org/handsonlycpr

Schools will have the freedom to train their students whenever and however they like at little to no additional cost. The required lessons are practice with compression, learning about an AED, and always remembering to call 911. MacCue estimates that the bill will teach over 146-thousand students how to save a life. 

Chris Bolt, Ed.D. has proudly been covering the Central New York community and mentoring students for more than 30 years. His career in public media started as a student volunteer, then as a reporter/producer. He has been the news director for WAER since 1995. Dedicated to keeping local news coverage alive, Chris also has a passion for education, having trained, mentored and provided a platform for growth to more than a thousand students. Career highlights include having work appear on NPR, CBS, ABC and other news networks, winning numerous local and state journalism awards.