OLYMPIA, Wash. – A proposed bill is aiming to ensure all Washington schools have a plan for handling cardiac emergencies.
House Bill 1863, backed by the American Heart Association, addresses a critical issue as an estimated 23,000 children under 18 experience cardiac arrest outside of hospitals each year.
Ryan Schaefer, a registered nurse at Providence Sacred Heart in Spokane and coordinator of Project Adam, has been working to support schools in the state. He highlighted a common problem in schools.
“Oftentimes we hear no one’s been trained, no one oversees it, it hasn’t been integrated into the EMS system. When an event happens, you know, the AED just stands on the wall and nobody’s really sure what to do with it,” said Schaefer.
The cardiac emergency response plans outlined in the bill will ensure defibrillators are maintained and ready for use, providing a blueprint for how these devices will get to where they’re needed.
The bill also designates school staff to be part of a response team working with emergency medical services.
