Pupil and school personnel health: automatic external defibrillators.

Existing law authorizes a school district or school to provide a comprehensive program in first aid or cardiopulmonary resuscitation training, or both, to pupils and employees, and requires the program to be developed using specified guidelines. Existing law requires the principal of a public or private K–12 school with an automatic external defibrillator (AED) to ensure that certain school employees annually receive approved brochures describing the proper use of an AED and that similar information be posted next to every AED, to notify, at least annually, every school employee of the location of all AED units on the campus, and to designate the trained employees who shall be available to respond to an emergency that may involve the use of an AED, as specified. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to encourage all public schools to acquire and maintain at least one AED. The bill would authorize a public school to solicit and receive nonstate funds to acquire and maintain an AED. If a public school decides to acquire and maintain an AED, or continue to use and maintain an existing AED, the bill would authorize and encourage the school to comply with specified requirements. The bill would provide that the school district and employees of the school district are not liable for civil damages resulting from certain uses, attempted uses, or nonuses of an AED, except as provided. The bill would instead require that a principal designate only school employees who volunteer to be designated as AED volunteers to respond to an emergency that may involve the use of an AED during normal operating hours. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature that school employees not be required to pay the cost of any training that may be required on the proper use of an AED.