DES MOINES, IA – Officials with the American Heart Association said Monday (June 1) Senate File 2474, a bill that requires the Iowa Department of Education to conduct a study on the resources schools need to implement cardiac emergency response plans (CERPs) in Iowa schools, was signed into law June 1st by Governor Kim Reynolds during a live signing at the Iowa Capitol. The legislation passed the House and Senate unanimously during the legislative session.
The study will collect the data needed to understand costs, identify gaps, and prepare a well-informed proposal to support cardiac emergency preparedness in Iowa schools and school athletic facilities. The bill signing helps kick-off National CPR & AED Awareness Week, which spotlights how lives can be saved if more Americans know CPR and how to use an AED.
“We thank Governor Reynolds and our state legislators for supporting this critical legislation that will help take a critical first step to ensuring our schools have the resources needed to develop cardiac emergency response plans and save lives,” said Census Lo‑liyong, State Government Relations Director, American Heart Association.
The American Heart Association, founding member of the Smart Heart Sports Coalition established by the NFL in 2023, and their Heart Powered advocates are working alongside coalition members and other organizations like the Smart Heart Sports Coalition to advocate for CERP legislation that will increase survival rates from cardiac arrests that happen outside of a hospital.
More than 356,000 people experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital in the United States each year. Currently, 10% of those people will survive, most likely because there were people nearby prepared to take action. CPR, if performed immediately, can double or triple a person’s chance of survival.
It is estimated that about 23,000 children under the age of 18 experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital annually in this country. Of those children, about 40% are sports-related. Whether in the classroom or on the playing field, having a plan in place to enable faculty, staff, and students to quickly and correctly respond to a cardiac emergency can save lives. In schools with AEDs, approximately 70% of children survive cardiac arrest – 7 times the overall survival rate for children.
For more information about CERP in Iowa, visit www.heart.org/en/affiliates/iowa.
