Proposed bill would require AEDs, CPR training at Ky. schools and sporting events

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - A proposed bill would require schools in Kentucky to have CPR trained individuals at school-sanctioned events. It would also require the installation of an automated external defibrillator, or AED.

House Bill 331 would force school boards to put coaches and chaperones through necessary AED and CPR training.

“We can put an AED at every school, but that’s not going to solve the problem,” said Matt Mangine. “We need to be trained and ready to act.”

Mangine’s son, Matthew Jr, died at soccer practice from a cardiac arrest in 2020.

Since then, Mangine Sr. has worked to bring awareness to the importance of proper training in youth sports.

He hopes to see the bill passed.

At the state capitol Tuesday, the American Heart Association trained lawmakers and other staff members to help them learn how easy it can be to save a life.

“At least one person in every household should be trained on this life-saving skill, have somebody there that knows what to do,” Tracy Monks of the AHA said, “because once you have, you’ll never know when it’s going to happen, and you don’t have those minutes to waste.”

A summary of HB 331 reads as followed:

Amend KRS 158.162 to direct local boards of education to require schools to maintain a portable automated external defibrillator in every middle and high school building and at school-sponsored events; require local boards to adopt policies and procedures for portable automated external defibrillators and ensure training requirements are met; amend KRS 158.302 to conform; amend KRS 160.445 to require all interscholastic coaches to be trained in CPR and use of portable automated external defibrillators; require all schools that participate in interscholastic athletics to maintain a portable automated external defibrillator at every practice or competition and meet training requirements; require venue-specific emergency plans to identify the location of a portable automated external defibrillator and the procedures for use; require schools that participate in interscholastic athletics to annually certify compliance with portable automated external defibrillator requirements and venue-specific emergency plan requirements.

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