BOSTON--John Ellsessar, whose son Michael died during an Oxford High School football game in 2010 from cardiac arrest, believes automated external defibrillators should be as readily available at school settings as fire extinguishers.
Ellsessar, who is pushing for legislation to require all schools to have defibrillators, said he and his wife were horrified when they learned that at most schools that have the medical devices, they are locked away in nurses' offices, instead of being ready for emergencies.
Sen. Mark Montigny, a New Bedford Democrat, filed a bill (S 1049) that would require all public schools to have the devices on school grounds. The Joint Committee on Public Health is reviewing the bill.
Along with defibrillators at schools, Ellsessar is also advocating for bills that would mandate that all athletic coaches receive CPR training (H 438, S 231, S 282), filed by Rep. John Lawn (D-Watertown), Sen. Benjamin Downing (D-Pittsfield) and Sen. James Welch (D-West Springfield).
"We can't get Michael back, but we can do things to make sure it doesn't happen again to some other family," Ellsessar told lawmakers on the Education Committee on Thursday.
Michael Ellsessar, 16, was playing his last junior-varsity high-school football game on Nov. 15, 2010, when he took a blow to the chest in the second play of the game. The hit caused immediate cardiac arrest, known as commotio cordis, his father said.
Coaches started CPR, but there was no defibrillator on hand to shock his heart back to beating regularly. It took an ambulance 15 minutes to arrive. It was too late to save him, Ellsessar said.
In April 2012, in light of the teen's death, Gov. Deval Patrick signed a law (S 2132) that requires schools to develop medical emergency response plans, but a proposal to require defibrillators at schools was removed before the bill passed, according to Ellsessar.
Ellsessar said he wants defibrillators mandated, as well as CPR training for all coaches and high-school students.
Thirteen states have laws that require CPR training for students, including Vermont and Connecticut. The proposal before Massachusetts lawmakers would require 30 minutes of training at some point during the four years of high school, proponents said. The bill differs from previous versions because it does not require CPR certification.
Roseanne Trionfi-Mazzuchelli, a CPR instructor in Winthrop, said students hired in the summer parks and recreation program there get trained in CPR. Weeks after receiving training, a 12-year-old girl saved her mother's life by performing CPR.
"It is important for kids to know how to perform CPR because kids react faster and they respond better to emergencies (than adults). I have seen it firsthand," Trionfi-Mazzuchelli said.
Stephen Finnegan, legal counsel for the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, said the organization opposes the bills making CPR and defibrillator use training high-school graduation requirements. He called them mandates on school districts that would need to be paid for by the state.
Finnegan said it also raises questions about how to train some students who are unable to take a CPR course. If a student is physically handicapped or disabled in some other way, and cannot take the course, "does that mean they can't graduate?" he asked.
Downing, who filed legislation that would require CPR training for all athletic coaches, said lawmakers tried to craft the bill to ensure that it would not add any financial burdens to schools or coaches. At the same time, "we also recognize the value and benefit of CPR," he told committee members.
There are about 200,000-plus students in the state who participate in athletics, Downing said.
"Having an additional insurance policy for those kids ... having someone on the scene, an athletic coach, an administrator CPR-trained can be the difference between life and death," Downing said.
SOURCE: State House News Service