To the Editor:

I have been teaching students in RI for twenty years. As a teacher, I have participated in several first aid programs both offered at school and on my own. I have actively assisted in several bleeding emergencies and have been employed in a school where choking, a heart event with a faculty member, and seizure incidents have occurred. While many, including myself, may not have been equipped for these situations, the patient was lucky enough to have bystanders equipped for the situation. Medical emergencies present themselves at any time within a large school population.

Recently, I had the opportunity to virtually participate in the Basic Emergency and Response Skills (BEARS) program. The information provided was outstanding. This training brought me up to date with current practices. I realized that my CPR training had changed considerably from the last time I had been trained. Furthermore, it provided information I had not considered before about bleeding control, the Heimlich, and infectious disease control.

Teachers need to be trained with the best current practices to effectively render aid when it is needed. It is essential that teachers in RI have access to the BEARS training. As a teaching professional, I want to have the knowledge to assist in an emergency situation, until medical help arrives. Those initial minutes in any emergency are critical. We owe it to Rhode Island students and teaching staff to provide them with basic knowledge in life saving skills. Personally, I felt more comfortable and prepared to intervene after this training, and I know my fellow teachers were as well.

To minimize adverse health outcomes, common classroom emergencies must be addressed rapidly. Research indicates that teachers frequently have to act as first-responders in these classroom emergencies. Medical literature indicates that in cases of cardiac arrest, oxygen deprivation and extreme bleeding, rapid bystander intervention dramatically increases the likelihood of survival as every minute without effective emergency response corresponds with an increase in long term harm or death.

Since teachers need help responding to common classroom emergencies, the State of Rhode Island should support teacher training in these necessary skills. This high-yield, cost effective, and essential training is termed Basic Emergency and Response Skills (BEARS). BEARS was an effective and efficient training for me and my fellow teachers because it requires very few resources – all I had to use were some basic household items – and it is essential for the safety of Rhode Island Students. As a teacher, I fully support BEARS and look forward to seeing it enacted into legislation.

Terry Burke

Hope