PARIS—Having an AED or a written plan in place is no longer enough when it comes to a Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) emergency at school, according to the state of Illinois. On Jan. 1, 2025, a new amendment to the School Safety Drill Act, House Bill 5394, went into effect mandating all Illinois schools develop and implement a comprehensive cardiac emergency response plan for the 2024-25 school year. Plans to create a cardiac Emergency Response Team (ERT) and drills were the focus of Crestwood’s first school board meeting of the year, Wednesday, Jan. 8.
The new amendment builds off of the previous legislation that required Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in all schools. Crestwood School currently has two AED units and Superintendent Danette Young told board members there are plans to obtain a third, through a grant rewrite.
The first step in the new requirement is for the school to create an emergency response team and identify their roles. Every member of the team must be fully trained in CPR and AED.
“The plan requires at least one drill a year with the team and the plans will be posted in classrooms in common areas too,” Young said.
Under the new law, principals and school administrators must also ensure that the plan is available on paper and digitally. The superintendent noted the plan will also be directly shared with local first responders.
Members of the ERT will include teachers, administrators and all of the school’s coaches, all of whom are already required to be CPR-trained. Young specified that the drill is specifically for staff and ERT members, not for students.
“If someone's having a heart attack in one area of the building then there would be an announcement for the team to come and for someone to grab the AED … to test the response time,” Young explained.
The American Heart Association estimates that “up to 23,000 children under the age of 18 experience cardiac arrests outside of a hospital annually in this country.”
Of those incidents, about 40 percent are sports related. In schools with AEDs, approximately 70 percent of children survive cardiac arrest – seven times the overall survival rate for children.
Other items the CUSD 4 board discussed during the January meeting include…
A pay raise for the school’s current head of transportation in lieu of overtime payment.
Rescheduling the District Improvement Committee meeting for 5 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 28 after the previously scheduled meeting was canceled due to Winter Storm Blair.
The purchase of a transportation vehicle, with the decision to change a motion from the November meeting, approving the purchase of a Traverse, to the purchase of a Chrysler Pacifica. The school has already found a Pacifica that fits their needs and budget.
The approval of the school’s 2025-26 calendar, including early dismissal on both the first and third Wednesday of each month and adjusting spring break to include Good Friday.
A full calendar for the school year is available on the CUSD 4 websitecrestwood.k12.il.us