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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | December 16, 2021 11:00 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Lindsey M. Williams |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Medical Emergency Response in Schools |
| In addition to preparing students for post-secondary career and life success, public schools also play a role in preparing students for adversity through fire, natural disaster, and security drills. While such drills better equip our children to respond to some emergencies, they do not prepare them for medical emergencies in which an adult is unresponsive or not present. When a teacher has a medical emergency in the classroom and is unresponsive, or when the same happens to a student in the absence of an adult, school children currently do not have a protocol to ensure that these teachers or students get the help they need. In a medical emergency, when seconds count, having a plan in place to alert responsible individuals can mean the difference between life and death. Recently, a student in my district brought this problem to my attention, prompted by her own experience. Working with her and other key stakeholders, I will be introducing legislation that would require schools to conduct annual medical emergency response drills to help our children gain developmentally-appropriate tools and practice in protocols, such as finding a classroom phone, contacting the school nurse, or otherwise alerting an adult that medical attention is needed. Please join me in equipping our school children with the skills needed to promote the wellbeing of their educators, their fellow students, and themselves by co-sponsoring this legislation. |
Introduced as SB1207