Several bills impacting student health in Florida K-12 schools have been approved in their first committees in the Florida Legislature.
Senate Bill 1070, called the “Second Chance Act,” that would require student-athletes to get an electrocardiogram, or EKG, before they can compete on school teams, was approved in its first committee in the Florida Senate last week.
EKGs can detect heart problems that could cause sudden cardiac arrest and premature death in young people.
On Monday, a bill that would require schools to have an automated external defibrillator, or AED, on hand, and another that would allow school nurses to administer medicine to a student having a diabetic emergency also passed their first committees.
Senate Bill 430, the “Kickstart My Heart Act,” would require all Florida public schools, including charter schools, to have at least one operational AED on their premises, in a clearly marked, public location.
State Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, introduced the bill. He said AEDs can be used to restart a person’s heart after it stops during a sudden cardiac arrest and save their life.
“I'll leave you with the simple fact that sudden cardiac arrest, is the number one killer on our school campuses," Simon said. “And so I think we would be, we would be negligent if we didn't take care of this issue with this opportunity.”
Studies have shown that a quarter of American schools will have at least one sudden cardiac arrest on their campus this year. In schools with AEDs, about 70% of students whose heart stops will survive.
Senate Bill 772, also known as the “Diabetes Management in Schools” bill, would allow a school district or charter school to order and keep glucagon on campus to be used during a diabetic emergency. The glucagon would have to be stored and administered by a school nurse or other trained staff member.
Glucagon is a naturally occurring hormone that prevents a person’s blood sugar from dropping to dangerously low levels.
State Sen. Alexis Calatayud, R-Miami, introduced the bill. She says the medication can be administered as a nasal spray or injection, and can reverse a diabetic emergency and save a child’s life.
“We're talking about a young child, or a child within the K-12 system that is losing consciousness and unable to administer any carbohydrates or sugar. And this is, this is a life-saving medication for this child in this episode,” Calatayud said.
When glucagon is administered shortly after a diabetic student starts to show the symptoms of dangerously low blood sugar, 98% to 100% will survive.
The National Institutes of Health found having glucagon handy isn’t just about saving lives, but about equity: due to the expensiveness of the drug, about 30% of young people may not have access to it on their own.
That’s especially true for students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds and Black and Latino students.
All three bills have companion bills in the Florida House.
