Plain English Breakdown
The official text does not specify which grade levels will be selected for CPR training, only that the Department must decide.
HB27: CPR Training in Schools and Major Emergency Care
This law requires the Department of Education to create a hands-only CPR curriculum for public schools and gives state officials authority to designate hospitals capable of treating major emergencies like heart attacks.
What This Bill Does
- Requires the Department of Education to adopt curricula teaching students hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
- Allows certified instructors, emergency medical staff, or teachers with current certificates to teach this CPR class.
- Updates school health education rules by removing CPR from the list of topics that are only encouraged for districts.
- Defines a 'major emergency' in state law to include heart attacks and strokes.
- Gives the Department authority to create special designations for hospitals based on their ability to treat major emergencies.
Who It Names or Affects
- Public school students who will receive CPR instruction at grade levels chosen by the department.
- The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, which must write the new curriculum.
- Hospitals and clinics that may apply for special designations to treat major emergencies.
Terms To Know
- Hands-only CPR
- A method of cardiopulmonary resuscitation using chest compressions without mouth-to-mouth breathing, as required by the new curriculum.
- Major emergency
- A serious medical event defined by this law to include heart attacks and strokes.
Limits and Unknowns
- The Department of Education must decide which specific grade levels are required to take the CPR class.
- Schools only need to offer the instruction if it is 'practicable' for them to do so.
- Sections regarding school curriculum and emergency care definitions will not start until July 1, 2027.