The Kentucky Senate has voted to require cardiopulmonary resuscitation training for all public high school students across the state. Proponents say the bill is aimed at broadening the number of people trained in CPR.
Campbellsville Senator Max Wise says this legislation could have implications in dealing with heroin overdoses. The bill sponsor says students training in CPR might be able to respond quickly to someone in distress from a drug overdose. Wise said the need for CPR could arise anywhere, anytime. “We don’t know when one of us as an ordinary citizen may be called upon to save one’s life and learning a basic skill like this could possibly help do such as that,” explained Wise.
The state senate passed the CPR bill 32 to 6. Paris Senator Stephen West voted no saying school officials in his district expressed concern about the bill. “In an era of reduced funding and paperwork, to me and to them this is another unfunded mandate that we’re putting on them,” said West.
The measure now heads to the House.
