If you don't know CPR, you are no longer qualified to earn a high school diploma in the state of Texas. Texas legislators have partnered with the American Heart Association to pass new laws requiring high school seniors to complete basic CPR training before they graduate.
Starting in the 2014-2015 school year, school districts will be responsible for ensuring all students receive CPR training at least once between seventh and 12th grades. This program will add nearly 300,000 more citizens with lifesaving CPR-knowledge to the Texas population yearly.
Texas joins 16 other states with similar legislation. Since roughly 92 percent of sudden cardiac arrest victims don't make it to the hospital alive, the American Heart Association is hoping these new laws will empower more people to step up, act, and potentially save lives.
Currently, a startling 70 percent of Americans don't know how to react during a cardiac emergency, due to lack or lapse in CPR training. Fewer than 11 percent of victims suffering cardiac arrests out-of-hospital survive and, unfortunately, no one can predict who will or won't be affected. Victims often look healthy and carry no record of known heart disease or other risk factors, necessitating a citizenry capable of performing the life-saving maneuver in any scenario.
The American Heart Association and Texas lawmakers implemented the new requirements hoping for an increase in the survival rate of sufferers: immediate CPR can double or triple the odds of survival after cardiac arrest.
