Here you will find posts and updates to legal issues in connection with CPR Training and AED usage. We are not a legal service and information posted is only to alert you to issues that may affect your situation.WAC 170-295-1100 | |
What are the requirements regarding first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training? |
(1) You must ensure that at least one person of your staff with a current basic standard first aid and age appropriate CPR certificate is present with each group of children in your center at all times. For example, if you have six different classrooms with different groups of children, you must have a staff person in each room trained in first aid and CPR.
(2) The person providing the first aid and CPR training must be knowledgeable about current national first aid and CPR standards. The trainer must:
(a) Be in the medical field;
(b) Be in the emergency field such as an emergency medical technician or firefighter;
(c) Complete a "train the trainer" course from a reputable program such as the American Red Cross, American Heart Association, National Safety Council or labor and industries; or
(d) Work for a company that specializes in first aid and CPR training.
(3) First aid and CPR training must be updated as required on the card or certificate received by you or your staff person. The first aid and CPR cards or certificates must have a date of expiration.
First-aid and CPR Training (Mandatory). - 1910.266 App B (Source: Department of Labor) The following is deemed to be the minimal acceptable first-aid and CPR training program for employees engaged in logging activities. First-aid and CPR training shall be conducted using the conventional methods of training such as lecture, demonstration, practical exercise and examination (both written and practical). The length of training must be sufficient to assure that trainees understand the concepts of first aid and can demonstrate their ability to perform the various procedures contained in the outline below. For more, visit....OSHA, Dept. of Labor
Your Responsibility:
Make sure first-aid trained personnel are available to provide quick and effective first aid
You must:
Updated September 2009Each year, more than 250,000 Americans die from sudden cardiac arrest. According to medical experts, the key to survival is timely initiation of a "chain of survival", including CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation). Because of recent technological advances a portable lifesaving device, called an "automated external defibrillator" or "AED" has recently become an important medical tool. Trained non-medical personnel can use these simplified electronic machines to treat a person in cardiac arrest. The AED device "guides the user through the process by audible or visual prompts without requiring any discretion or judgment."1 The American Heart Association notes that at least 20,000 lives could be saved annually by prompt use of AEDs. Ultimately, with broad deployment of AEDs among trained responders, as many as 50,000 deaths due to sudden cardiac arrest could be prevented each year.
Advocates of this approach envision placement of AEDs in public buildings, transportation centers and even large offices and apartment buildings. Meanwhile, the commercial market has expanded substantially, with machines that once sold for $3,000 and up now advertised at under $1,000 for small office, personal or home use. State Legislators have become actively involved with this issue in the past six years. Most commonly, the recent state laws encourage broader availability, rather than creating new regulatory restrictions. Most of the bills enacted from 1997 to 2001 included one or more provisions to: | 
automated external defibrillator
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- Establish legislative intent that an "automatic external defibrillator may be used by any person for the purpose of saving the life of another person in cardiac arrest."
- Encourage or require training in the use of AED devices by potential users.
- Require AED devices to be maintained and tested to manufacturer's standards.
- Create a registry of the location of all such defibrillators, or notification of a local emergency medical authority.
- Allow a "Good Samaritan" exemption from liability for any individual who renders emergency treatment with a defibrillator.
- Authorize a state agency to establish more detailed requirements for training and registration.
Florida was the first state to enact such a broad public access law in April 1997 (Chapter 34 of 1997). As of 2001, all fifty states, listed below, had enacted defibrillator laws or adopted regulations.
Congress Acts on AEDs:In 2002, Congress incorporated the Community Access to Emergency Devices Act (Community AED Act) into
H.R. 3448 of 2002(sections 159, 312 and 313) of the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Response Act. The President signed the bill on June 12, 2002 as Public Law 107-188. The provisions authorize $30 million in federal grants in year one of the five-year measure. The grants, to be made available to applying states and localities, would be used for the purchase and placement of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in public places where cardiac arrests are likely to occur. Grant funds would also be used to train first responders to administer immediate life-saving care, including AED use and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The bill also encourages private companies to purchase AEDs and to train employees in CPR and emergency defibrillation. (
http://www.ncsl.org/IssuesResearch/Health/LawsonCardiacArrestandDefibrillatorsAEDs/tabid/14506/Default.aspx)
School districts are required to place the AEDs in a prominent location in each high school in the district. The AEDs must remain accessible during the school day as well as for extracurricular activities that take place after school hours. School districts must comply with statutory requirements regarding the use of AEDs. In addition, school districts are responsible for training staff in the use of the AEDs, as well as for incorporating such instruction in its health and fitness curriculum.
of schools have AEDs, but many schools need to increase awareness about where the AEDs are located and give training on how to use them. This bill would require schools to provide necessary training. Schools are like community centers, and it is important that schools get AEDs so more children do not die from sudden cardiac arrest. Even excellent fire departments can not get there in time, and AEDs are a tool that anyone can use to save a life. If this bill is not passed, children will continue to die every year in schools from sudden cardiac arrest.