CARDIAC EMERGENCY SCHOOL DRILLS H.B. 4272:
COMMITTEE SUMMARY
House Bill 4272 (as passed by the House)
Sponsor: Representative Gail Haines
CONTENT
The bill would amend the Fire Prevention Code to require a school that included any of grades K-12 to adopt and implement a cardiac emergency response plan; and require a school to substitute a cardiac emergency response drill for one required fire drill, if the school had an automatic external defibrillator available.
Cardiac Emergency Response Plan
Under the bill, the governing body of a school operating any of the grades Kindergarten to 12 would have to adopt and implement a cardiac emergency response plan. The response plan would have to address and provide for at least all of the following:
-- Regular, coordinated emergency response drills that provided training in identifying and responding to cardiac emergencies.
-- Use and regular maintenance of automated external defibrillators (AEDs), if available.
-- Activating a cardiac emergency response team during an identified cardiac emergency.
-- A plan for effective and efficient communication throughout the school campus.
-- Incorporating and integrating the local emergency response system and emergency response agencies with the response plan.
-- A plan for evaluating implementation of the response plan after each cardiac emergency response drill.
If a school included grades nine to 12, the response plan also would have to include a training plan for using an AED and in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) techniques.
(An automated external defibrillator is a portable electronic device that can automatically diagnose cardiac arrest and deliver an electric shock to stabilize the victim's heart rhythm.)
Cardiac Emergency Response Drills
The Code generally requires K-12 schools to hold a minimum number of fire drills per school year. Under the bill, a school could hold one cardiac emergency response drill in lieu of one fire drill per school year. If a school had an AED available at the school, it would have to hold one cardiac emergency response drill in lieu of one fire drill per school year.
If a school conducted a cardiac emergency response drill as part of its response plan, the drill would have to include at least all of the following:
-- Prompt activation of a cardiac emergency response team and the local emergency response team.
-- Simulation and testing of a CPR response to a cardiac emergency.
-- Simulation and testing of an AED response to a cardiac emergency, if an AED were available.
-- Evaluation of the response and of adherence to the school's cardiac emergency response plan.
MCL 29.19 Legislative Analyst: Glenn Steffens
FISCAL IMPACT
There would be additional costs to local schools and to local units of government that provided emergency response services as a result of the requirements of this legislation. Specifically, local schools would see increased costs in the areas of: training in the identification of and response to cardiac emergencies; high school training for using AEDs and CPR; incorporating and integrating the local emergency response system with the school's plan; evaluating the implementation of the cardiac plan; activating a cardiac emergency response team; simulating and testing a CPR response to a cardiac emergency; simulating and testing (and maintaining) an AED; and evaluating the response to the cardiac drill. Local governments would see increased costs because the new cardiac drills required under the legislation would require prompt activation of the local emergency response team.
Fiscal Analyst: Kathryn Summers
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.