OLYMPIA — State Rep. Kevin Van De Wege is pushing legislation that would make CPR classes a high school graduation requirement.
Although Van De Wege, D-Sequim, said Monday that the bill doesn’t stand much of a chance, he says it’s a good conversation to have. The bill is running into opposition from educators worried about costs and implementing yet another graduation requirement. The House Education Committee conducted a public hearing on the measure last week.
As a Sequim firefighter, Van De Wege has seen firsthand the good that can come with implementing successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
“I think CPR is very important and I’ve seen it save lives,” Van De Wege said.
Van De Wege notes that the legislation he’s recommending would start for the Class of 2016 and wouldn’t require teachers be certified instructors or that students receive certificates. Rather, a student could receive training anywhere and just needs to successfully complete the training.
Eric Rothenberg, a volunteer with the American Heart Association, told the House Education Committee that both of his sons learned CPR while they were in middle school. He says the CPR training used to be an all-day course, but in order to teach middle school and high school students, the American Heart Association “has winnowed down the curriculum to 30 minutes or less to save a life.”
“That’s less time than it takes to order a pizza,” he said.
Rothenberg, of Mercer Island, said he had sudden cardiac arrest back in 2009 when he was playing on a tennis court. Bystanders performed CPR and grabbed an automated external defibrillator and saved his life.
Rothenberg said that statistics show two out of every three bystanders have no idea what to do when someone has cardiac arrest near them. The goal of requiring students to have knowledge of CPR is to increase the odds of survival and increase awareness of the signs that someone is having a heart attack.
Former University of Washington basketball player Kayla Burt recounted the time in 2002 when she fell into cardiac arrest in her dorm room and experienced a 15-hour coma. Today, she is an outreach coordinator for the Hope Heart Institute.
“Without quick action of my teammates and Seattle paramedics, I would not be here today,” she testified. “I support this bill because it empowers our next generation.”
Jerry Bender, a lobbyist for the Association of Washington School Principals, said the idea is a good one, but not as a graduation requirement because it would require too much paperwork and there are unknown costs involved. He says making CPR instruction part of the existing health and fitness credits makes more sense.
Wendy Rader-Konofalski, a lobbyist for the Washington Education Association, also opposed the bill, saying teachers and students are too overwhelmed with the existing graduation requirements. She proposed fire stations “provide free training for high school students in the community.”
“Is this a necessary critical graduation requirement?” added Marie Sullivan with the Washington State School Directors Association.
State Rep. Fred Finn, D-Steam Boat Island, had that same question. As a member of the House Education Committee, he told Van De Wege, “CPR without question I think is a good idea to be trained in, my only concern is as a graduation requirement. Where do we stop? Why not have it in gun control, or gun safety or why drugs are bad or any number of things?”
“I would leave it up to the great education committee to decide where to stop,” Van De Wege replied.
Van De Wege said some day he would like to see automated external defibrillators in all schools and students with the knowledge to use them.
