Should CPR Be Required in Class­rooms Across NYS?

CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. -- A proposal is moving through Albany to make CPR available to all high schoolers throughout New York State. And one school in Albany has been teaching the skill for years and has already seen results.

"In 2007, on church on Christmas Day, I suffered a full cardiac arrest," said Jeff Keene, who was saved by CPR.

"The very first question that every single doctor asked me was, 'when did they start CPR on Jeff?'" said Julie Keene, Jeff's wife.

Because of the heroic actions of a perfect stranger, Julie was able to say that CPR was started almost immediately. It's solely because of that fact that Jeff can stand in front of this class today telling his story.

"They kept reassuring me that he was going to get well because they had started it so quickly," Julie said.

It is stories like this that has led to schools, like Shenendehowa High School, to adopt CPR and AED education as part of their curriculum.

"Our students can commit that this is not just a class to take, but a class that because of the skills they have gained and will use will save lives," said Shenendehowa High School Superintendent Oliver Robinson.

And now students have heroic stories of their own.

"I saw him walking and I saw him collapse. I rushed over and saw him on the ground. I immediately picked him up and started doing abdominal thrusts and it came out after two thrusts," said Jahn Ligon, a Shenendehowa senior.  

The life-saving stories speak for themselves. That's just one of the many reasons why the American Heart Association has been pushing for CPR to be taught in every high school in the state.

"I've been a paramedic for 40 years and we have never saved a life where CPR wasn't already in progress when we arrived," said Bob Elling, the AHA Advocacy Committee chair.

To the delight of CPR-advocates, the state board of regents announced this week they are recommending a curriculum change to make CPR a mandatory lesson in schools.

"It's short. It's quick and it does the job. You can teach it in one high school period," said Elling.

Elling says his goal is to create an army of lifesavers, armed with the skills these students know so well, and have them in every community across the country.