American Heart Association urges legislators to pass CPR in Schools bill | News

In light of a local boy being saved by CPR at a Colonie Little League game, the American Heart Association is urging state Legislature to pass the CPR in Schools bill.

The 11-year-old boy was struck in the chest with a baseball causing his heart to stop but luckily, people who were trained in CPR were there to help before EMTs arrived on the scene.

“Everyone did what they were supposed to on Monday to put the chain of survival into effect, calling 911 and starting CPR on the young man,” said Michael Dailey, M.D., Regional EMS medical director and associate professor of emergency medicine at Albany Medical Center. Dailey is also a volunteer with the American Heart Association.  “The American Heart Association is urging the New York state Legislature to pass the CPR in Schools bill now so that we never have to worry about someone surviving if their heart stops.”

According to a statement, CPR in Schools calls for every high school student in New York to learn CPR. Volunteers with the American Heart Association will go to the state Capitol on Wednesday, May 2 to urge legislators to pass the bill.

The American Heart Association in Vermont is also urging legislators to pass the bill and on Wednesday, the Vermont House passed legislation that would have high schools teaching CPR as part of the health curriculum.

For information about the CPR in Schools legislation click here. To read more about the boy who was hit click here.