Assemblymember Freddie Rodriguez introduced AB 319 which will ensure high school students learn CPR before they graduate high school. AB 319 holds the power to create a generation of lifesavers.
According to the American Heart Association, sudden cardiac arrest is one of the most lethal public health threats in the United States. Nearly 424,000 people experience cardiac arrest outside the hospital each year, and sadly, only 10 percent survive. Alarmingly, 70 percent of Americans may feel helpless to act during a cardiac emergency because they do not know how to perform CPR. Effective bystander CPR provided immediately after sudden cardiac arrest can double or triple a victim’s chance of survival, but only 32 percent of cardiac arrest victims get CPR from a bystander.
“CPR is one of the most important life skills a person can have. I have been an Emergency Medical Technician for over 30 years and I have seen too many cases that could have turned out differently if a bystander had known how to administer CPR,” said Rodriguez. “By teaching CPR in high school, we are sending students into the world with an essential, life-saving skill that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. The more people who are trained in CPR, the more lives we can save.”
Under AB 319, school districts would have the flexibility to teach hands-only CPR in any class that is required for high school graduation, such as P.E. or Health. The bill is co-sponsored by the American Heart Association and American Red Cross who have led the effort to pass similar legislation in 20 other states.
“I am so glad I learned CPR because it helped save my friend’s life,” said 11 year old Skylar Berry, an American Heart Association volunteer who learned CPR at a camp organized by her local fire department.
Berry was at a birthday party when a group playing in the pool realized one of their friends was at the bottom. As they brought him to the surface, Skylar remembered the CPR training she’d received and immediately sprang into action. She also helped teach local American Heart Association board members at the Sacramento division’s board meeting in December.
“The American Heart Association’s goal is to teach lifesaving CPR skills to as many teens and young adults as possible in California to help keep our communities safer, year after year,” said Dr. Franklin Pratt, medical director of the Los Angeles County Fire Department and volunteer spokesperson for the American Heart Association. “Having a new generation of lifesavers will deliver an increased amount of safety and security to all of our communities.”
The Los Angeles County Fire Department believes so strongly in the effectiveness of teaching CPR to our youth that they will be training 9,000 students this year using the American Heart Association’s CPR Anytime program.
"CPR is something that everyone can do and is an important skill that can save a person's life," says Kathleen Weis, CEO of the American Red Cross Gold Country Region based in Sacramento. "To incorporate this critical knowledge as part of a student's education not only equips students with lifesaving skills, but also empowers them to recognize an emergency and take appropriate action. We applaud Assemblymember Rodriguez's efforts to make CPR a component of high school education, helping to create better prepared students and building prepared communities."
Assemblymember Rodriguez is Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Local Emergency Preparedness, and Chair of the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management. He represents the 52nd Assembly District which includes the cities of Chino, Montclair, Ontario, Pomona and portions of unincorporated Fontana.