Students in New Jersey will soon get a new life-saving
lesson added to their curriculum.
A New Jersey law passed on August 20th will require high
school students to complete CPR and AED training.
The law was signed at the Burlington Township Middle School
where a student recently collapsed and was successfully revived by the use of
CPR and an AED. The law is put in place simply to increase the amount of people
who are capable of saving the lives of others.
The law will become part of the state’s Health and Physical Education
Standards, and it begins with new freshman starting school this year. Obtaining
a CPR/AED certification is usually a three hour ordeal when taking a class with
an accredited organization, although it is unclear to what extent the students
will be taught.
CPR and AED training involves little investment in time and effort as there are
only a few steps to learn, and most AED's are equipped with an automated voice
that instructs a person on exactly what to do.
CPR/AED Facts and
Statistics
According to the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation, only
32% of SCA victims get CPR,
and only 2% are given treatment by an AED. In only the U.S., there are 424,000
people who experience an episode of SCA, of which 90% die.
The survival of SCA victims is much in the hands of bystanders since emergency
medical help will take at least 5-10 minutes to arrive. The survival rate of
about 10% rises to 38% if a bystander has performed CPR and AED assistance on a
victim before EMS arrives.
Therefore, it’s imperative that more people become equipped
with the skills to administer CPR and AED help since every 1 minute that goes
by without help decreases the victim’s survival rate by 7-10%.
Time for Change
New Jersey looks to pave the way in ensuring that a higher
percentage of the population is equipped with CPR and AED training, which will
save many lives.
Hopefully, it won't be long before similar laws are passed in other
states in an attempt to reduce the number of SCA related deaths.
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