Requires public schools to display a poster depicting first aid procedures used to treat a person who is choking

3 Co-sponsors

• Phil Boyle
• Jesse Hamilton
• Velmanette Montgomery

Title of bill

An act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring public schools to display a poster depicting the first aid procedures used to treat upper airway obstructions by foreign objects

Purpose or general idea of bill

The purpose of this legislation is expand the choking prevention requirements of J.T.'s Law by requiring that public schools display a poster depicting the first aid procedures used to treat upper airway obstructions by foreign objects.

Summary of specific provisions

Section one is the legislative intent.

Section two amends education law by adding a new section 409-1.

Section three sets forth the effective date.

Justification

In 2008, the NY legislature enacted JT's Law - Child Food Choking Prevention Act named after a three-year-old boy who choked to death on a hot dog in 2003. JT's Law requires the New York State Department of Health to determine which foods create a heightened choking risk to children and to make this information as well as other choking prevention measures available to the public. As recently as October 2015, a first grade Brooklyn, NY student choked to death on a sandwich in front of peers and adults who were ill-equipped to intervene and perform lifesaving first aid procedures. In this and other tragic cases, precious time was lost trying to locate an individual trained to administer first aid procedures to treat upper airway obstructions by foreign objects, and time may often mean the difference between life and death.

In an effort to enhance the efforts of JT's Law, this legislation will require that all public schools display a poster graphically depicting the first aid procedures used to treat upper airway obstructions by foreign objects to facilitate and perform this lifesaving emergency procedure.

Such posters must be visible in every location within schools where food is sold and in spaces designated specifically as eating areas, including but not limited to cafeterias.

Prior legislative history

New bill.

Fiscal implications

Undetermined.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the one hundred and eightieth day after it shall have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediately, the commissioner of education is authorized to promulgate any and all rules and regulations and take any other measures necessary to implement this act on its effective date on or before such date.