Louisiana Could Join 12 States That Make Emergency Training Mandatory
A proposed state law would require high school students to learn CPR.
House bill 542 will allow schools to partner with firefighters, EMTs, nurses or other groups to to help train students to revive people in cardiac arrest.
"I think it would be a good thing, especially for the older students," said Jo Ann Matthews, Lafourche Parish school superintendent. "It's something that would be good to know not just because it may be required but because it could save lives during an emergency."
The legislation is supported by the American Heart Association. If passed, the requirement could be implemented in schools in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes as early as fall.
Both school districts do not require students to be certified in CPR or cardiopulmonary resuscitation. However, students are introduced to the process in required health courses, and various staff members in each parish school are required to obtain certification.
"I know that we do require certain staff members in all of our schools to be CPR certified," said Terrebonne School Superintendent Philip Martin.
Linzy Cotaya, Louisiana communications director for the American Heart Association, said about 424,000 people experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital each year, and less than 10 percent survive.
With heart disease being the No. 1 killer of Louisianans, training students to react to emergencies using life-saving techniques such as CPR could greatly increase the number of survivors of cardiac arrest, Cotaya said.
"There's research showing that if you perform hands-only CPR and you receive the training where you actually push on the dummy and feel the compressions, you're more likely to respond to an emergency because you'll be better prepared," she said. "It won't be the official seven hour-training that gets you certified, but it will help you if you need to respond in those one to two minutes before EMS can get there."
Should the bill pass, Cotaya said it would be left to the discretion of the schools as to whether they will offer the option to certify students. In addition, instructors teaching CPR procedures are not required to be CPR certified unless the school opts to issue certification to students.
Twelve other states have already passed laws requiring high school students to be CPR-trained before graduation.
"CPR can be taught in 30 minutes of health or P.E. class but can give students skills they need to help save a person's life," Cotaya added. "Schools prepare students with essential life skills, and CPR skills are among the most critical life skills they can bring to the community."
SOURCE: The Daily Comet