STATEWIDE — NY PUBLIC SCHOOLS MUST CREATE RESPONSE PLANS FOR CARDIAC EMERGENCIES, according to a new law that Gov. Kathy Hochul signed on Thursday, July 24, Gothamist reports. Prompting the law was the death of a 12-year-old girl in western New York who collapsed while playing basketball at her school. Although the school had a defibrillator, it was locked and the key was misplaced. The girl’s cousin, state Sen. April Baskin, introduced and sponsored “Desha’s Law,” and Brooklyn state Sen. Jabari Brisport was a co-sponsor. Several Brooklyn Assemblymembers cosponsored the bill, including Brian Cunningham, D-43, and Maritza Davila, D-53.
Desha’s Law “requires schools safety plans to include a cardiac emergency response plan that addresses the use of appropriate personnel and measures to respond to incidents involving any individual experiencing sudden cardiac arrest or similar life-threatening emergency on any school site owned or operated by a school or at a location of a school sponsored event,” according to a summary of the bill posted on the NY State Senate’s legislative web page.
The new law also brings under the mandate boards of cooperative educational services, county vocational education and extension boards and charter schools.
✰✰✰
