Everything you need to know about DC’s cardiac response to schools: NBC4 Washington

The DC Council passed a bill last week requiring schools to adopt a plan for cardiac emergencies.

All schools in the district, including public, private, public, independent and parochial, must adopt a plan to manage cardiac emergencies by the 2025-2026 school year. The bill adds to existing legislation that requires schools to have automated external defibrillators available for sporting events and requires CPR and automated external defibrillator training for athletic trainers, coaches and school nurses.

what does this do

The bill establishes the guidelines for a cardiac emergency response plan (CERP). Along with a plan, the bill requires schools to have at least one AED that complies with the school’s CERP, to have regularly scheduled maintenance on the AED, and to inform all school employees of the location of each DEA and the school’s CERP.

The bill also requires D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to establish a monitoring process to ensure the requirements are met.

Schools are currently required to have a plan to respond to medical emergencies, including cardiac arrest, and the use of CPR and an AED.

Who makes the plan?

The bill requires DC Fire and EMS to coordinate with the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education to develop and maintain a model that CERP schools can use for people who experience cardiac arrest, especially during a sporting event or practice on campus grounds. The model will include “evidence-based” core principles recommended by national subject matter experts that will provide guidance on how the emergency response team should operate.

The guide will include information on:

• Who should be on the emergency response team?
• Where AEDs should be located
• Staff training
• Specific emergency protocol such as how emergency services will be contacted
• How the CERP will be assessed

What are the costs?

D.C. Chief Financial Officer Glen Lee sent a memo to D.C. Council President Phil Mendelson last month saying funds are sufficient between fiscal year 2025 and fiscal year 2028 to implement the bill , but did not specify the explicit costs of its implementation. He added that FEMS and OSSE can develop the models using “existing resources”.

Are there racial disparities when it comes to cardiac arrest?

Although rare, more than 7,000 children and infants a year in the US have a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital setting with disparities among different demographics, the rate of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest for black children was more than four times times greater than that of white or Hispanic children, according to the American Heart Association.

For young athletes, sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of exercise-related death, but more than 80% of them survived if an athletic trainer administered CPR or used an AED.

How do the leaders feel?

“MSDC supports appropriate public health measures, such as access to timely care,” said Dr. Ashesh D. Patel, president of the DC Medical Society, during a public hearing in July. “Nothing can save a life more in a health emergency situation than proper training and adequate resources.”

Last month, the Office of the Council on Racial Equity said the bill’s requirement that every school have a response plan will likely reduce racial disparities for D.C. residents of color as it increases response protocols emergency and increases survival rates.

“Because of the effectiveness of CERPs and because of the racial disparities that exist in the occurrence and outcomes of cardiac arrest, steps taken to improve the district’s emergency cardiac response interventions, as proposed by the bill, are particularly important to black residents, Indigenous residents and residents of color, both in district schools and on district school grounds,” the report said.

Andre Edwards, deputy fire chief for EMS operations at DC Fire and EMS, said the department supports the legislation and that the district-wide focus on cardiac arrest survivability gave resulting in 69 patients being discharged from hospital, the highest number of survivors since the department. started tracking them in 2011.

“Improving patient care and outcomes, including cardiac arrest survival, is a key priority for Mayor Bowser and Fire and EMS,” Edwards told the audience.

ANC Commissioner Adam J. Prinzo called the bill “a crucial step toward improving public health outcomes in our community and our schools” and congratulated Jude Maboné, Miss. DC 2023, to use his platform to advocate for heart education.

what happens next

The bill was sent to the mayor’s office Thursday, and Bowser has until Oct. 31 to sign it or veto it.