Council endorses state bills to require CPR and AED training in Massachusetts high schools
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Summary
The Cambridge City Council unanimously backed a policy order urging the state legislature to enact bills that would require short CPR and AED training sessions for high‑school students. Student "CPR ambassadors" from Crimson EMS and the American Heart Association briefed the council and described cost‑effective training options.
The Cambridge City Council on April 7 voted unanimously to endorse a set of state bills that would require brief cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) training for Massachusetts high school students.
Students and youth volunteers from Crimson EMS and the American Heart Association made the case to the council, describing an ambassador program that has trained hundreds of students and recommending short 30–45 minute sessions that could be integrated into health, PE or assemblies. Students testified that immediate bystander CPR dramatically improves survival after out‑of‑hospital cardiac arrest and that basic training can be inexpensive: inflatable mannequins as low as about $40 per classroom, or durable classroom kits for larger initial outlays.
The council’s resolution listed several active bills by number and urged the state legislature to pass them. Sponsors said the measure supports a low‑cost, high‑impact public‑health intervention and builds on existing volunteer ambassador programs run by students.
What’s next: The council requested that the mayor’s office and staff forward a suitably engrossed copy of the resolution to the state legislature and to relevant advocacy partners. The council’s action is an endorsement and does not itself mandate training in Cambridge schools; state action is required to change school curriculum requirements.