BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1719
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 4, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
1719 (Rodriguez) - As Amended April 21, 2016
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Policy |Education |Vote:|6 - 0 |
|Committee: | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
| |Judiciary | |10 - 0 |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill requires, starting with the 2018-19 school year,
school districts and charter schools to provide instruction in
compression-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as part of
AB 1719
Page 2
an existing course of study for grades 9-12. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Requires the instruction to include both of the following:
a) An instructional program based on national
evidence-based emergency cardiovascular care guidelines for
the performance of compression-only CPR, such as those
developed by the American Heart Association or the American
Red Cross.
b) Instruction to pupils relative to the psychomotor skills
necessary to perform compression-only CPR. Defines
"psychomotor skills" as skills that pupils are required to
perform as hands-on practice to support cognitive learning.
2)Requires the California Department of Education (CDE), prior
to the beginning of the 2017-18 school year, to provide
guidance on how to implement the instructional requirements of
this bill, including, but not limited to, who may provide
instruction.
3)Encourages school districts and charter schools to provide
pupils general information on the use and importance of an
automated external defibrillator (AED). Specifies the physical
presence of an AED in the classroom is not required.
4)Authorizes a school district or charter school to adopt
policies to implement the requirements of the bill and
encourage local education agencies to use the most
cost-effective means possible to implement these requirements.
AB 1719
Page 3
5)Provides a local agency, entity of state or local government,
or other public or private organization that sponsors,
authorizes, supports, finances, or supervises the instruction
of pupils, or an employee who provides or facilitates
instruction in compression-only CPR or the use of an AED,
cannot be held liable for any civil damages alleged to result
from the acts or omissions of an individual who received such
instruction. Specifies that this liability does not grant
immunity from civil damages to any person who provides or
facilitates the instruction of pupils in compression-only CPR
or the use of an AED in a manner that constitutes gross
negligence or willful or wanton misconduct.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Proposition 98/GF state mandated costs, potentially in the low
millions, starting in 2017-18, for school districts to provide
instruction in compression-only CPR to students in grades
9-12. Actual costs will vary depending on how a district
chooses to implement the provisions of the bill. Charter
schools will also incur costs to implement the requirements of
the bill; however, charter schools are not eligible for
mandate reimbursement.
School districts may have access to instruction through
in-kind donations from community partners, such as hospitals
or fire departments. Other districts may need to provide
instruction using existing district staff who will need time
to review online training videos and prepare lesson plans.
San Francisco Unified School District, for example, was able
to provide training through an in-kind donation from the local
fire department, however; according to SFUSD, the district
dedicated approximately $68,000 towards their hands-on CPR
AB 1719
Page 4
program. There are 420 school districts that serve students in
grades 9-12. If one-fourth of these districts needed to make
an investment similar to SFUSD, statewide costs would be
approximately $7.1 million.
2)General Fund administrative costs to CDE of approximately
$32,000 to provide guidance documents and provide technical
assistance to districts and charter schools.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. School districts are currently authorized, but not
required, to offer a comprehensive course of study on first
aid and CPR, based on standards that are at least equivalent
to the standards currently used by the American Red Cross or
the American Heart Association. Further, schools are required
to provide instruction at the appropriate grade levels on
personal and public safety and accident prevention, including
emergency first aid instruction, instruction in hemorrhage
control, treatment for poisoning, resuscitation techniques,
and CPR when appropriate equipment is available.
This bill expands current policy to require every high school
student in California to receive instruction in performing
compression-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
2)Background. Compression-only CPR, or "hands only" CPR, is
conventional CPR without mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
According to the American Heart Association, hands-only CPR
has been shown to be as effective as conventional CPR for
sudden cardiac arrest at home, at work, or in public.
Research indicates that this is due to a better willingness to
start CPR by bystanders, a low quality of mouth-to-mouth
ventilation, and a detrimental effect of too-long
interruptions of chest compressions during ventilation.
3)Prior legislation. AB 319 (Rodriguez) of 2015 required school
districts and charter schools to provide instruction on
AB 1719
Page 5
performing CPR and the use of an AED to students in grades
9-12 as part of a course required for graduation. This bill
was held on the Suspense file in this committee.
Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081