What's happening
This bill requires all New York public schools to display posters illustrating first aid procedures for choking emergencies.
Why it matters
Promotes awareness and preparedness. By requiring visible posters on choking first aid procedures in schools, the bill aims to ensure that students, teachers, and staff have immediate access to life-saving information, potentially reducing response time during emergencies.
Extends current child safety laws. The bill builds on existing child choking prevention laws (like J.T.'s Law) by expanding requirements from food establishments to public schools, recognizing that choking incidents can occur in a variety of settings where children eat.
Limits legal liability for schools. The legislation explicitly states that schools and their employees will not be held legally or financially liable for harm resulting from reasonable, good faith efforts to follow the procedures indicated on the posters, reducing concerns about litigation for staff who try to help.
Mandates state oversight and consistency. The bill calls for the creation and approval of the posters by state health and education officials, ensuring that the information is standardized, accurate, and consistent with best practices across all public schools.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Require Choking First Aid Posters
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
3 Co-sponsors
History
- Referred to education
- Referred to education
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Post Choking Help Posters
In Assembly Committee · Education · Sponsor Linda Rosenthal
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1505
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 10, 2017
Introduced by Sens. AVELLA, BOYLE, HAMILTON, MONTGOMERY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
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
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Legislative intent. It is important that teachers, administrators and students in the state of New York are well informed about first aid responses to treat upper airway obstructions by foreign objects as it is reported that at least one child dies from choking on food every five days in the United States, and more than 10,000 children are taken to a hospital emergency room each year for food-choking injuries. It is the intent of this legislature to help prevent future deaths resulting from upper airway obstructions by expanding the choking prevention requirement of section 2500-i of the public health law, known as J.T.'s Law, by requiring public schools to post a visible poster that graphically depicts the first aid procedures used to treat upper airway obstructions caused by food or foreign objects.
§ 2. The education law is amended by adding a new section 409-m to read as follows:
§ 409-m. Choking poster. 1. Every public school including charter schools shall post a visible poster graphically depicting the first aid procedures used to treat upper airway obstructions caused by food or foreign objects, including but not limited to back blows, abdominal thrusts and chest compressions.
2. The commissioner shall adopt rules and regulations in consultation with the commissioner of health relating to the posting required by subdivision one of this section. Such rules and regulations shall be consistent with the provisions of section two thousand five hundred-i of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01282-01-7
S. 1505 2
the public health law related to child food choking prevention. Such rules and regulations shall require that a poster be displayed in each establishment where food is sold and in spaces designated specifically as eating areas, including but not limited to school cafeterias and provided further that such poster shall be approved by the commissioner of health in consultation with the commissioner.
3. Nothing contained in this section shall impose any affirmative duty to act in compliance with the poster. A school district, board of cooperative educational services and/or their employees or other person shall incur no legal or financial liability as a result of any harm or injury sustained by a student or other person caused by reasonable and good faith compliance with this section.
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred 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.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
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-m.
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.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.