By: Katie Johnson 

As an EMT, I know the minutes before an ambulance arrives is the difference between life and death. If a student collapses in a classroom, those minutes belong to the teacher. All teachers in Illinois should be required to be CPR and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) certified because the training benefits student safety and prepares teachers to safely handle an emergency. Yet, under a law passed by the Illinois General Assembly, teachers are only “encouraged” to be certified. 

The law requires high school students to be trained in CPR and AED use, but not all of their teachers. If a high school student collapses, a 15-year-old may be the most qualified to save their classmate’s life. In elementary and middle schools, even fewer individuals are qualified. If the law believes that all high schoolers should be trained, then the teachers should be held to the same standard. Additionally, without CPR certified individuals in the classroom, the reaction time dramatically increases. In studies done by the American Heart Association, individuals who receive CPR in the first 2 minutes of cardiac arrest have a significantly higher chance of survival without major brain damage. In classrooms, teachers are most often the nearest bystander. Immediate CPR can triple the chances of survival.

The results speak for themselves. In 2016, a math teacher in New York saved her student’s life by performing CPR and using an AED. Without a CPR/AED certification, teachers waste precious minutes waiting when they could be saving a life. CPR and AED training for educators protects students, empowers teachers, and better prepares them in an emergency.

By signing this petition, you urge the Illinois General Assembly to amend 105 ILCS 5/22-115 to require CPR and AED certification for all K-12 teachers in Illinois, and for Governor Pritzker to sign it into law.

“And even the principal told us that the goal is to have everyone at the school be CPR certified.”