CPR is new graduation requirement for Arizona high school seniors
Sep 21, 2018, 4:58 AM
(Pixels Photo)
(Pixels Photo)
PHOENIX — Arizona’s high school seniors have a new graduation requirement that’s a little more hands-on than most.
As of July 2019, each senior must pass a CPR course and every school must offer one.
“You’re far more likely to survive a cardiac event if you have early CPR,” said Ashley Losch with the Glendale Fire Department. “So, the more people that know how to perform it, the better.”
Arizona’s high schoolers first saw CPR as a course offering in 2016. At that time it was the 32nd state to offer such a course.
Arizona will have nearly 60,000 graduating students a year learning CPR.
With Arizona added, about 61 percent of the nation’s public high school graduates will be trained in CPR.
According to American Heart Association statistics, about 38 people each hour have a cardiac arrest while not in a hospital, and nine of 10 do not survive.
Receiving CPR, however, can double or even triple the victim’s chances of survival.
