By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
In April, the Kansas Senate passed Senate Bill 19 which requires school districts to create Cardiac Emergency Response Plans (CERPs) for public schools in the state. Monday evening, USD 428 Assistant Superintendent John Popp led the board of education through a first read of the new policy to be implemented in Great Bend public schools.
"There are a ton of model plans out there," he said. "Our nurses curated this plan and made it work for our district. The District Safety Committee has reviewed it and the plan is to attach it to our emergency operations plan as an addendum at the end rather than try to make it fit somewhere in the middle."
The CERP outlines the specific steps schools will take to minimize the risk of sudden cardiac death on school premises. The district has 29 automated external defibrillators (AEDs), including eight mobile units, with one AED program manager in the district and site managers as needed. The district has a 5-minute target goal of retrieving and using an AED once sudden cardiac arrest is recognized.
The CERP dictates how the district will maintain its AEDs, how staff is trained, and the warning signs of sudden cardiac arrest, including a sudden collapse, a person who appears to have no pulse, someone who is not breathing normally, or someone who appears to be unconscious.
Monday's first read was just an introduction to the policy which will be voted on for adoption at the board's January meeting.