Farmington Schools May Add CPR Training to 9th Grade Health Classes in 2014

officials say they're planning to add cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training to the 9th grade health curriculum in 2014.  

council member Ken Massey says that's not nearly soon enough. At a joint meeting of the the Hills and councils and Farmington school board Tuesday, he asked school officials what could be done to move the program forward.

over the past five years to make the life-saving technique a graduation requirement for Farmington Schools students. He has , where a concerted effort to train all citizens in CPR increased the out-of-hospital survival rate to 20 percent. If the cardiac event was witnessed by someone who knew CPR, the survival rate climbed to 49 percent.

Since that time, training has been offered to high school students on five half-days during the school year, as a cooperative effort among the district, and , FPS spokesperson Diane Bauman said. Thus far, 148 students have been trained.

Jon Manier, the district's director of instructional services, said plans are to add CPR training to requirements for 9th grade health classes. However, he said, the State of Michigan is introducing a new framework for health education in the fall. The district's proposal is to have 9th grade health teachers look for a way to build CPR training into that new framework. 

While Manier said the district could add sites for the voluntary classes, Massey said "the true benefit of (CPR training) is seen in cities where this is a graduation requirement." 

"I applaud where we are," he added. "We are moving in the right direction. But in my perspective, we can't move fast enough."

Correction: The original version of this article incorrectly stated the year in which CPR training may be added to the Farmington Public Schools 9th grade health curriculum.