Something important is missing from the high school curriculum in New York: CPR instruction.
The American Heart Association will continue to advocate for passage of S2491 and A3980 in the state Legislature to make sure that everyone graduating from a New York school knows the psychomotor skills of CPR and how to use an automated external defibrillator or AED.
CPR, if started promptly after a victim collapses, can double, if not triple, the chances of survival. On the other hand, when bystanders do nothing but wait for the EMTs and paramedics to arrive, the chances of survival drop 10 percent per minute.
Most students age 13 or older have the physical size and strength necessary to deliver effective chest compressions. Hands-only CPR takes only 30 minutes to learn, and the cost is minimal to a school district.
Sag Harbor Pierson High School on Long Island began a program in 1994 that teaches CPR to students in seventh and 10th grades. Sixteen lives have been saved because the students used their CPR skills in the real world.
Imagine how many lives we could save if all students learned CPR before graduation.
Please contact your state legislators today and ask them to make passage of the CPR in schools bill part of their legislative curriculum this year.
Paramedic, educator and AHA affiliate board member