Should fourth graders learn how to treat injured classmates? Proposed legislation would require it
TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas) - As school shootings continue, Texas lawmakers are considering a new law that would require school districts train children as young as nine how to treat wounded classmates.
While the idea of children attending to a gunshot wound may be disturbing, supporters of the bill said it could help save a life.
Existing state law already requires districts provide training on how to stop a bleed to students starting in 7th grade with demonstrations on how to place direct pressure to a wound or apply a tourniquet to stop bleeding.
The American College of Surgeons, which developed the Stop The Bleed program, reports bleeding from a trauma is the most common cause of preventable deaths among adolescents. Whether the bleeding is caused by a gunshot, a car crash, or a broken window, the response is the same.
HB1147 would require the training now start as early as the fourth grade, when kids are nine and 10 years old. The bill's author, Texas Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, said the measure was inspired by the massacre at Robb Elementary in Uvalde. Most of the young victims who died there were nine and 10 years old.
"If there's no appetite for doing gun reform, then we've got to do something and if we could save one life, then we've done at least that," said Gervin-Hawkins.
The training, she said, can be done in an age appropriate way without using gory images.
"It's not scary. It's actually interesting. It's basic straightforward first aid and something we should all be able to do," said Dr. Ronald Stewart, the Medical Director of Trauma Programs for the American College of Surgeons.
Responding to a bleed quickly is important, he said, as a person can die from blood loss in as little as five minutes faster than most paramedics can respond.
The Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association, though, has registered opposition to the bill, saying it's too much for young children.
Gervin-Hawkins disagrees.
"Think about the young girl in Uvalde who had the thought of mind to put blood on herself. To, you know, have the shooter think… I've been shot. OK, who would have thought someone in that grade level would have thought like that?" asked Gervin-Hawkins.
Her bill is now waiting on a committee vote to move forward.
While districts would be required to provide the training, parents would be allowed to opt children out.