New York state lawmakers took a pause from budget negotiations today for CPR training.
The CPR Showdown at the Legislative Office Building in Albany pitted State Senators against Assemblymembers to see which branch had more members willing to learn hands-free resuscitation.
State Senator Shelley Mayer of the 37th District says she was inspired to finally learn CPR after she saw a visitor to the Capitol have a heart attack last month and didn’t know how to help.
“It was just one more tool in the toolbox, like, you know, I've had Narcan training. I know how to do that now I have this very basic CPR training. I need to learn how to use a defibrillator, but we need all these tools, and this is just in the world where we are committed to helping other people stay alive,” Mayer said.
Now though, the Westchester County Democrat says she could step in.
“One, it's simple. Two, anybody can do it once they learn, which includes me. And three, like I'm out in the world every day at home in my district, going to places, seeing things, easily. Could see the need to engage in CPR in one of the events I'm present at,” Mayer said.
Across the floor, several training dummies are waiting to be administered CPR. The method being taught today is hands-free — the method involves chest compressions only.
The training came as legislators and advocates rallied in support of legislation requiring New York schools to have cardiac emergency response plans.
Senate sponsor April Baskin, a Democrat from the 63rd District, says she’s backing the legislation in remembrance of her cousin Deja Sanders, who collapsed on her school gym floor 16 years ago.
“Deja laid there for 10 minutes at 12 years old in the middle of her teammates, her classmates and school administrators with heart failure. There was an AED in the school, but it was locked up, and they were trying to figure out how they would get the keys so that they could come to her aid,” Baskin said.
Assembly Deputy Majority Leader Michaelle Solages is carrying the legislation in the lower house. The Long Island Democrat from the 22nd District is a former athletic trainer. She says such response plans are vital.
“As parents, you always hear that kids are doing a school emergency test or program. But we lack something in our schools. We lack the knowledge that we need to impart on our students when they have a cardiac arrest, and ensuring that they have the tools needed to save a life,” Solages said.
Lansingburgh Central School District Medical Director Matt Hickling joined the lawmakers in support of the measure. A former pediatric emergency room nurse, he says, while schools are required to have AEDs in each building, having a defibrillator is only one part of any proper emergency plan.
“What's the value of an AED in a building if no one knows how to use it, or if that one member who's required to be trained is absent, and let's not assume that that school nurse is the only one available, because, as we may know, in New York, not every building actually requires a school nurse,” Hickling said.
A spokesperson for Governor Kathy Hochul says the Democrat will consider the legislation if it passes both houses of the state legislature.
