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I am reaching out for help from parents in our state to ask their legislators to support the Bill for Washington schools to adopt cardiac emergency response plans (CERP) SB 6118 and HB 2549. Lobby Day is Jan. 22 so now is the time we need to push Senator Lisa Wellman and Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos to grant us a hearing.
As a mother who lost a son to a sudden cardiac arrest while running track at his high school, I support the bill for Washington schools to adopt cardiac emergency response plans (CERP). When my son Matthew suffered his sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), the school called 911 and two coaches performed CPR and yelled for someone to get one of the four automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in the school. No one at his school responded. The paramedics arrived and delivered the first shock 7 minutes after receiving the 911 call. By then it was too late.
The AEDs in our schools are there for students and staff to use within the first three minutes, which increases the odds of survival by 80% if schools have a CERP in place. A Lynnwood fire chief told me 12 years ago it is not good enough to hang an AED on the wall if you don’t have a plan to use them.
– The CERP bill applies to K-12 public schools in WA State
– The bill is focused on standing up a strike team to respond to sudden cardiac arrest.
– CERP drills should be weaved into existing Safe School Plans to ensure drills and documentation happen on an annual basis.
– According to the American Heart Association, CERPs can double the survival rate from sudden cardiac arrest by empowering people to dial 911, start CPR, and use an AED.
SCA is an abnormality in the heart’s structure or electrical system that can be detected with a simple EKG. But EKGs are not a part of a teen’s annual well-child or pre-participation sports physical. All students are at risk, not just athletes. Over the past 20 years the Nick of Time Foundation volunteers have provided 33,868 EKGs to students and found 657 who needed follow-up care.
Until all children in our state can receive EKGs for heart defects, the one thing we can do is help our schools be ready to save lives from cardiac arrest by passing the cardiac emergency response plan.
Here’s a link to our page with videos: heartpowered.org/campaigns/wasmarthearts/
Melinda Truax lives in Edmonds.
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