ENHANCING CARDIOPULMONARY RESUSCITATION (CPR) AND AUTOMATED EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATOR (AED) TRAINING FOR SCHOOL EMPLOYEES TO TREAT SUDDEN CARDIAC ARREST (SCA) IN SCHOOL SETTINGS

WHEREAS, the death of a young student from sudden cardiac arrest stirs deep emotions within the family and the community and raises concerns about the vulnerability of other school-age children (Lotfi, et al., 2007); and on average, school-aged children spend 28 percent of the day in school (AAP, 2008); school-based cardiac arrests account for 13.1 percent of public location cardiac arrests; 4.4 percent of all cardiac arrest among children 3 to 18 years of age (Lotfi, et al., 2007); and every year, one in every 73 high schools will experience a cardiac arrest event among either staff or students (Drezner, Toresdahl, Rao, Huszti & Harmon, 2013). “Many schools lack a licensed healthcare professional on site to respond to individual student medical emergencies” (AAP, 2008);       only 30 percent of children experiencing a cardiac event actually receive bystander CPR (AAP, 2012); survival from SCA decreases by 7 to 10 percent with each minute of delay in defibrillation when no CPR is provided (Link et al., 2010); and bystander CPR more than doubles the survival rate of a cardiac event (AAP, 2012); and

WHEREAS, 4.4 percent of all cardiac events among children occur at school; however, only 30 percent of those experiencing a cardiac event receive bystander CPR. Since teachers are responsible for the well-being of their students during the school day, providing training to and requiring certification for teachers is a public health intervention. Nurses have a duty to educate the public to improve the health of all and that arming teachers with the knowledge of proper CPR/AED training can make the difference between life and death for childhood cardiac events: 

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers supports improving the ratio (school employees-to-students) for school employees who have completed first aid, CPR and AED training; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT will contact legislators to inform them of this position. Additionally, the AFT, other unions and associations to address implementation; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT will send a copy of this resolution to healthcare and education organizations, including but not limited to: the American Nurses Association, the National League for Nursing, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International, the American Medical Association, the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, the Emergency Medical Services for Children National Resource Center, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Education, the Association of American Educators, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, the Academic Pediatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Society of Pediatric Nurses, the American Medical Students’ Association, the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, the National Organization for Associate Degree Nursing, the American Public Health Association—Public Health Nursing Section, the National Association of School Nurses, the National Association of Rural Health Clinics, and others deemed appropriate by the AFT executive council.

References

American Academy of Pediatrics. (2008). Medical emergencies occurring at school (policy statement). Pediatrics, 122 (4), 887-894. doi: 10.1542/peds.2008-2171. Reaffirmed September 2011.

American Academy of Pediatrics. (2012). Pediatric sudden cardiac arrest (policy statement). Pediatrics, 129 (4), e1094-e1102. doi: 10.1542/peds.2012-0144.

Drezner, J.A., Toresdahl, B.G., Rao, A.L., Huszti, E., & Harmon, K.G. (2013). Outcomes from sudden cardiac arrest in US high schools: a 2-year prospective study from the National Registry for AED Use in Sports. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 47, 1179-1183. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2013-092786.

Link, M.S., Atkins, D.L., Passman, R.S., Halperin, H.R., Samson, R.A., White, R.D.,…Kerber, R.E. (2010).  Part 6: Electrical therapies: automated external defibrillators, defibrillation, cardioversion, and pacing: 2010 American Heart Association guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency cardiovascular care. Circulation, 122, S706-S719. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.110.970954.

Lotfi, K., White, L., Rea, T., Cobb, L., Copass, M., Yin, L.,…Eisenberg, M. (2007). Cardiac arrest in schools. Circulation, 116, 1374-1379. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.107.698282.