Assembly Bill 319 by Assemblymember Freddie Rodriguez passed the Assembly Education Committee today. The bill holds the power to create a generation of lifesavers by ensuring high school students learn CPR before they graduate high school.
According to the American Heart Association, 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,” said Rodriguez. “Too many lives are needlessly lost because a bystander does not know CPR. 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 21 other states.
“The American Heart Association’s goal is to teach lifesaving CPR skills to as many California teens and young adults as possible 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. “We applaud Assemblymember Rodriguez for introducing this bill that will prepare millions of young people to become our ‘first, first responders.’”
"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.