11 LC 28
5761
Senate
Resolution 590
By:
Senators Mullis of the 53rd, Unterman of the 45th, Grant of the 25th and Albers
of the 56th
A
RESOLUTION
Urging
the Georgia Department of Education to implement cardiopulmonary resuscitation
(CPR) classes in the public schools of this state; and for other
purposes.
WHEREAS,
as early as 1740, the Paris Academy of Sciences officially recommended
mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for drowning victims; and
WHEREAS,
in 1891, Dr. Friedrich Maass performed the first unequivocally documented chest
compression in humans, and, in 1903, Dr. George Crile reported the first
successful use of external chest compressions in human resuscitation;
and
WHEREAS,
in 1957, the United States military adopted the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation
method to revive unresponsive victims; and
WHEREAS,
in 1960, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was developed, and the American
Heart Association started a program to acquaint physicians with closed-chest
cardiac resuscitation and became the forerunner of CPR training for the general
public; and
WHEREAS,
emergency medical services personnel treat about 300,000 victims of
out-of-hospital cardiac arrest each year in the United States, and less than 8
percent of people who suffer cardiac arrest outside the hospital survive;
and
WHEREAS,
sudden cardiac arrest can happen to anyone at any time, and many victims appear
healthy with no known heart disease or other risk factors; and
WHEREAS,
about 5,900 children 18 years old and under suffer out-of-hospital cardiac
arrest each year from all causes, including trauma, cardiovascular causes, and
sudden infant death syndrome; and
WHEREAS,
the incidence of out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest in high school athletes
ranges from .28 to 1 death per 100,000 high school athletes annually in the
United States; and
WHEREAS,
the American Heart Association does not have a minimum age requirement for
people to learn CPR since the ability to perform CPR is based more on body
strength rather than age; and
WHEREAS,
studies have shown that children as young as nine years old can learn and retain
CPR skills; and
WHEREAS,
effective bystander CPR, provided immediately after sudden cardiac arrest, can
double or triple a victim's chance of survival.
NOW
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that the members of this body urge the
Georgia Department of Education to implement cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
classes in the public schools of this state.
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed
to send a copy of this resolution to the Georgia Department of
Education.