AUGUSTA, Maine - Students would have to learn how to perform CPR and how to use automated external defibrillators under a bill Maine lawmakers are considering this session.
Rep. Matt Pouliot's bill would require public schools to offer AED and hands-only CPR training. The Republican from Augusta says that Maine's high schools could train up to 13,000 students every year, "creating a generation of lifesavers.''
He says that 21 states have passed similar laws.
The bill is being backed by the American Heart Association. The group says 326,000 cardiac arrests happen outside of the hospital in the U.S. every year. It says 90 percent of people who go into cardiac arrest outside of a hospital die because they don't get CPR right away.
The bill had a public hearing last week.