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CPR for Students is Required in NJ; Coming to California, Too?

By Zack Zarrilli Updated on September 5, 2014
in CPR

With the emphasis on school safety stronger than ever, New Jersey is taking a bold approach. Starting this school year, all New Jersey high school students will be required to have CPR training.

The initiative has gained momentum throughout the last decade, and legislators finally thought the time was right to act. Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno signed a law recently, which requires all high school students (in New Jersey, defined as 9^th through 12^th grade) to acquire CPR training.

Governor Chris Christie has been a proponent of the legislation, but couldn’t sign the bill due to his current travel schedule. Guadagno is serving as acting governor with Gov. Chris Christie out of the state.

“This law will save lives,” Guadagno said. “These critical skills are easy to study and, as we heard today, can make all the difference in the globe to an individual in cardiac arrest. Our actions today assure that additional residents than ever will be equipped when the unthinkable occurs.”

CPR training has been a staple of health classes for a while, but taking the step to actually require students to become properly trained hasn’t enjoyed widespread support.

In 2013, Lois Capps, a Congressional representative of California’s 24^th District, proposed a bill to require school students to become CPR certified. The bill hasn’t been passed yet, but given the state’s progressive brand of politics, there is still hope for Capps’s bill.

It’s not surprising that New Jersey and California are always in the news regarding school-based CPR certification. Both states generally have a more liberal stance on issues, particularly those involving children. Critics of the CPR legislation think it’s too overbearing, while some people think that lawmakers haven’t gone far enough to aggressively pursue the requirement.

Should the NJ law come to California, SureFire CPR will become a leading source of top quality, low cost training. We offer ACLS, CPR and BLS instruction, along with the best CPR training in Southern California. We’ve trained EMT technicians, firefighters, lifeguards, nurses and other medical personnel with life-saving procedures. Should Rep. Capps’s bill become a reality, just give us a call at (888) 277-3143 to schedule your classes.

Stay up to date on pending CPR laws by reading the SureFire CPR blog. And thanks again for stopping by!

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About the author

I spent 15 years as a firefighter and paramedic...

And too often I would arrive on the scene of someone unconscious, surrounded by a circle of people feeling helpless. Sometimes those people would even have CPR training but lacked the confidence and experience to act.

That’s why I started SureFire CPR. Our classes are practical and engaging – teaching you the crucial skills you need to know what to do and feel empowered to take action.