It’s a growing trend that I can see continuing to spread through all fifty states. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation training is fast becoming a required skill to learn prior to graduation from high school. It’s already a requirement in seven states, with at least three more getting close to joining that list.
Here in Michigan, we have many schools using our free Student CPR program to train their students with this life-saving skill.
This week I was doing some research and learned that Farmington Public Schools is possibly going to add CPR to their curriculum beginning in 2014. It would be added to the 9th grade health class.
Dr. Ken Massey, a Farmington Hills city council member, has been working on making it a requirement for nearly six years. He “cited statistics from King County in Washington, where a concerted effort to train all citizens in CPR increased the out-of-hospital survival rate to 20 percent. If the cardiac event was witnessed by someone who knew CPR, the survival rate climbed to 49 percent.” (via)
Jon Manier, who is the district’s director of instructional services, added that “the true benefit of (CPR training) is seen in cities where this is a graduation requirement.” They currently have plans to add CPR training to requirements for 9th grade health classes in their district.
“I applaud where we are,” he added. “We are moving in the right direction. But in my perspective, we can’t move fast enough.”
I’m not sure where we are, currently, in the State of Michigan regarding the requirement of CPR for high school graduation, but I’m sure this won’t be the last time that we hear about this.
