In the last Delaware legislative session, one of the State Senator pushed through a resolution [SCR 20] for a feasibility study for teaching CPR and AED to students in the high schools. The Department of Education (DOE) was tasked with follow up on the resolution. The American Heart Association, American Red Cross, and the Matthew Krug Foundation hoped that a study team would be formed. We asked to paticipate on the study team. Unfortunately, the DOE has decided not to form a study team immediately. They plan to meet only with the DE Office of Emergency Medical Services. They are scheduled to meet on September 10th. However, the DOE did ask for feedback from our group relative to the topic.
Therefore, I am coming to the SCAA membership for information/suggestions, etc.
Are there any States that now have CPR/AED training courses in the high schools?
If so, was it mandataed?
How are they funded?
Are the classes given during the school day or after school?
Do any of the other States have an initiative in progress?
If so, what is the proposal and how is it to be funded?
Anyone done any studies to detrmine an estimated cost per student to do the training?
Anyone have a list of "benefits" of such a program?
*Thoughts/Suggestions/Feedback on implementing CPR/AED in High Schools
*Research Documents
*Sources/Documents
Thanks for your help. I will keep you updated on progress.
Stewart Krug
The Matthew Krug Foundation
www.MatthewKrugFoundation.org
First State Leader, Parent Heart Watch
www.parentheartwatch.org
Ambassador, Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association
www.suddencardiacarrest.org
Already a member? Sign in
Welcome to Inspire!
What - Inspire is a place where you can connect with people who share your health concerns and find information and advice in groups sponsored by organizations you know and trust.
Why - As a member you can use Inspire to let friends and family know how you're doing, contact others who share your health concerns, receive personalized updates and information about participating in surveys and clinical trials, and more.
How - Joining Inspire is completely free and usually takes less than a minute. Join now!
CPR/AED Training in High Schools
- By SMKrug
- Posted September 4, 2007 at 8:08 pm · 4 replies
- In Promoting CPR and AEDs
- Shared with the public
Explore topics in this discussion:
4 replies
- Oldest first
- Newest first
- By EugeneJohnson
- Posted September 6, 2007 at 11:57 am
- Report post
Dear SMKrug,
Here in Minnesota there are a number of school districts in our state that have had some initiatives to train High School students in CPR/AED.
Contact a jeannekalien@qwest.net to hear about her work in the Blaine,MN School District .
Gene Johnson-New Brighton,MN SCA Survivor 9-11-02
- By Steve_Johnston
- Posted September 6, 2007 at 1:24 pm
- Report post
I believe that New York was the first state to mandate AEDs in schools and they have over 50 saves since that law passed. Perhaps one of our members from New York can correct me if I am wrong. I would be willing to bet you could come up with their law by searching through Google.
We have several saves on school grounds here in Rochester, MN. Only one was a student; two were district employees.
If someone tells you that AEDs are not needed in schools, I would tell them that AEDs need to be where the people are. If you do the math you will find that about 25% of your community is in the schools during a typical school day.
I also tell the naysayers that AEDs in schools will save lives beyond the schools. I think AEDs in schools are more important for this reason. If they save a life in school, well, that's fantastic in its own right. But we need to make people aware that AEDs are simple and effective. We need to teach people CPR. AEDs are more effective with CPR. In our experience, in cases where a SCA victim receives early bystander CPR, the survival rate in that select group of patients hits 60% - that's how important it is!! So if we teach people not to be afraid of defibrillation, teach them how effective AEDs are, teach them CPR then AEDs will no longer be thought of as these oddball hi-tech, sophisticaed, complex (etc., etc.) devices that hardly anyone really knows about. Putting AEDs in schools will help engrain them into the future of our society. That's where I see even more value to having them in schools. Our future rescuers, police officers, public administrators, health care professionals, policy makers (etc.) are all in our schools now. We need them to know the value of AEDs.
AEDs are also dirt cheap now. Compare them to the cost of something like a balance beam or a laptop computer or a drinking fountain or some other typical things found in schools that will never save a life.
As far as funding is concerned, this would be a great project for a local benevolent group such as the Elks, Eagles, Rotarians, etc. I would think the PTSAs would be enthusiastic as well. It is also something perfectly suited for the tax levy in my view. Budgets are nothong more than an organization's values expressed in terms of dollars.
Best wishes for great success!
Steve
- By SMKrug
- Posted September 7, 2007 at 5:48 am
- Report post
Eugene and Steve,
Thanks for the feedback.
Steve,
Getting AEDs into the schools is no longer an issue in DE. This past spring Delaware became the second State in the US to have an AED in all public and charter schools. This was done without mandate! Our State Office of EMS manages a Publlc Access to Defibrillation (PAD) Program. The State uses a portion of our tobacco settlement money to fund the PAD Program. This program has been in place since 2001. The Office of EMS has distribued ~2500 AEDs since that time. Each high school has at least 2 AEDs. Other States may want to consider this option.
The resolution deals specifically with teaching high school students CPR and AED. Our vo-Tech high schools already do this since they have health care provider related curriculums.
Thanks again. If other folks can add to knowledge base about teaching programs, the information will be greatly appreciated.
- By Janet1
- Posted September 7, 2007 at 11:11 am
- Report post
Hi Folks,
Its good to hear about all the school training efforts taking place around the country . They are our future!
Last year, in our first year, Take Heart St. Cloud trained all 9th grade students in our area – approximately 2000. They in turn used the AHA Friends and Family CPR training kits to train their friends and families. By the end of the 9 month school we had trained just over 5000 people. It was an amazing experience. The students were attentive, invested and committed to learning CPR and how to use an AED.
Our entry into the academic setting has been overwhelmingly positive. We work with 9th graders in groups of up to 120 students. We even needed an interpreter in the room at one school because there was such a high number of Somalian students present. We have taught in private and public schools; schools as large as 1700 and as small as 350. In ALL cases we have had very successful sessions.
The key, I believe, is that our training team includes a survivor and he speaks for about 5 minutes before we do the training. It’s very powerful. He talks about receiving CPR, the pain of recovery and how much he appreciates that people are willing to learn and respond when there is a cardiac arrest event.
I would be happy to talk to anyone who is looking for help with this type of program and can be reached at 320-251-2700 ext 54174.
Janet Steinkamp
Program Development Specialist
Take Heart St. Cloud
Add to the discussion