| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to emergency cardiovascular care at public schools and |
|
|
certain private schools in this state. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 22.902(c), Education Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(c) Each school nurse, assistant school nurse, athletic |
|
|
coach or sponsor, physical education instructor, marching band |
|
|
director, cheerleading coach, and any other school employee |
|
|
specified by the commissioner and each student who serves as an |
|
|
athletic trainer must participate in the instruction in |
|
|
cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the use of an automated external |
|
|
defibrillator. A person described by this subsection must receive |
|
|
and maintain certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and |
|
|
the use of an automated external defibrillator from the American |
|
|
Heart Association, the American Red Cross, or a similar nationally |
|
|
recognized guidelines-based organization focused on emergency |
|
|
cardiovascular care [association]. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 38.017(a), Education Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(a) Each school district shall make available at each campus |
|
|
in the district the number of [at least one] automated external |
|
|
defibrillators [defibrillator], as defined by Section 779.001, |
|
|
Health and Safety Code, necessary for a defibrillator to be |
|
|
accessible from any location on campus so that a person may provide |
|
|
emergency care to a person in cardiac arrest within three minutes of |
|
|
being notified of a possible medical emergency involving cardiac |
|
|
arrest. A campus defibrillator must be readily available during |
|
|
any University Interscholastic League athletic competition held on |
|
|
the campus. In determining the placement of [location at which to |
|
|
store] a campus defibrillator, the principal of the campus shall |
|
|
consider the guidelines from the American Heart Association or |
|
|
another organization with expertise in emergency cardiovascular |
|
|
care and ensure that the defibrillator is clearly marked [primary |
|
|
location on campus where students engage in athletic activities]. |
|
|
SECTION 3. Section 38.018, Education Code, is amended by |
|
|
adding Subsection (e) to read as follows: |
|
|
(e) The commissioner shall establish a grant program to |
|
|
award grants to districts and schools to assist with the |
|
|
implementation of a cardiac emergency response plan. In awarding |
|
|
grants, the commissioner shall prioritize districts or schools at |
|
|
which at least 50 percent of enrolled students are educationally |
|
|
disadvantaged. |
|
|
SECTION 4. Not later than the first instructional day of the |
|
|
2029-2030 school year, each public school to which Section 38.017, |
|
|
Education Code, as amended by this Act, applies shall make |
|
|
available the number of automatic external defibrillators as |
|
|
required by that section. |
|
|
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
|
|
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
|
|
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
|
|
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
|
|
Act takes effect September 1, 2027. |