This new, weekly feature from CSBA will highlight a new education law signed by the Governor in 2018. All laws are effective Jan. 1, 2019, unless otherwise noted. The full What’s New for 2019 report on all new laws affecting K-12 education is available at www.csba.org/whatsnewfor2019.
AB 2009: Automatic external defibrillators
In 2016, Assembly Bill 1639 (Maienschein, R-San Diego), also known as The Eric Paredes Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention Act, was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. The law, among other things, directed the California Department of Education to make available resources on cardiac arrest symptoms, warning signs and prevention. Redirected from the CDE’s website, those resources are available here.
More info on the requirements established by AB 1639 (which was supported by CSBA) is available here.
According to the American Heart Association, sudden cardiac arrest affects nearly 10,000 youth nationally per year, while the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research cites that more student athletes die annually from sudden cardiac arrest than from sport-related trauma.
Endeavoring to further prevent sudden cardiac arrest on school campuses – in particular for student athletes – the newly signed Assembly Bill 2009, also authored by Maienschein, builds off AB 1639 with two key requirements for all school districts or charter schools that offer interscholastic sports:
1. Commencing on July 1, 2019, each school within the district (or each charter school) must maintain at least one automated external defibrillator (AED).
Resources:
Current law, enacted in 2014, authorizes public schools to solicit and receive nonstate funding to purchase and maintain automated external defibrillators. The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation maintains a list of potential AED funding sources for schools, available here.
2. The district or charter school is required to ensure there is a written emergency action plan in place and posted, as specified, that describes procedures to be followed in the event of sudden cardiac arrest or other medical emergencies related to the athletic program’s activities or events.
Resources:
Eric Paredes Act Cardiac Emergency Response Plan toolkit
CIF: Emergency Action Plan resources | Sudden Cardiac Arrest resources
Notes about the AB 2009 requirements for an AED or AEDs:
The new law states that the school district or charter school is required to ensure that the AED is made available to trainers, coaches and authorized person during competitions and practices, and also that the district or charter school is also encouraged to ensure that the AED or AEDs are available for the purpose of rendering emergency care or treatment within a recommended three to five minutes of sudden cardiac arrest to pupils, spectators, and any other individuals in attendance at the athletic program’s on campus activities or events.
Existing law protects employees of a school district or charter school, and the district or school itself, from liability for civil damages pertaining to the use of AEDs, as specified. AB 2009 specifies that those same provisions apply, except in the case of “personal injury or wrongful death that results from gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct on the part of the person who uses, attempts to use, or fails to use an AED to render emergency care or treatment.”
