BISMARCK, N.D. - State legislators will soon consider a bill that will expand the successful Healthy Schools Pilot Program by training youths in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the use of defibrillators.
The bill's backers hope that when North Dakota students graduate, they'll know how to recognize cardiac arrest and keep victims alive until help arrives. Amy Walters, director of student services for the Southeast Education Cooperative, says the bill would fund four Healthy School coordinators for the regional education associations.
"The role of the Healthy School program coordinators is to reach out to local school districts in the areas of physical education, physical activity, health education - and then also beyond that, working with food-service programs, nutrition education and tobacco prevention."
Walters says teaching youths how to recognize an emergency and apply CPR will be important especially in rural areas, where the need is greatest for trained rescuers.
"As they graduate and as they receive that training, then that just provides additional resources out in the community should a situation like this happen. The more people we can reach with this type of information, the more chances we have to save lives."
The American Heart Association says students trained as rescuers can not only help save lives at home, where most sudden cardiac arrests occur, but also at such places as their schools, malls, health clubs, swimming pools or even family reunions.
SOURCE: Public News Service