JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A new law in Florida aims to create a generation of life-saving citizens by requiring high school students to learn CPR before graduation.
Before this law, Florida was one of seven states in the country that didn’t require CPR to be taught in schools.
It has been a fight for many loved ones of people who suffered cardiac arrest to have that changed.
“My daughter was clinically dead, laying on the floor of this gym,” said Shawn Sima, a CPR advocate. “My seemingly healthy daughter, who had been an athlete her whole life, played just about every sport there is. At 16 years old she was getting ready to try out for cheerleading.”
When running on a treadmill, Sima’s daughter Lexie collapsed, suffering sudden cardiac arrest.
“There were some bystanders in the gym that night, and they responded to my daughter and did CPR on her,” Sima said.
It was because of those bystanders, Sima’s daughter got a second chance at life.
Jeff Bosset has a similar story with his daughter.
“Our daughter, who was 15, went into sudden cardiac arrest in the gym of her high school,” Bosset said.
Though students surrounded her, no one performed CPR. It was a school resource officer who saved her life with CPR.
Bosset, Sima and many others advocated for mandatory CPR and AED training for students before they graduate high school.
“We’re training a generation of lifesavers,” Sima said. “Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in the united states, and the world.”
CPR advocates relied on lawmakers to pass a bill with this requirement. It passed unanimously, and Governor Ron DeSantis signed it into law Monday.
“We are absolutely ecstatic and blessed that we got the CPR and AED pushed for this year,” Bosset said.
This new law will go into effect July 1.
This is a big triumph for these advocates, but they said their fight isn’t over in Tallahassee.
Next, they are working to make EKG testing mandatory for student-athletes in order to participate in sports, to catch any abnormality they may have that could cause sudden cardiac arrest.