Letter of the Day (April 19): Lifesaving skills

Two years ago, at age 18, I died. I suffered cardiac arrest while working at a store in the Mall of America. None of my young coworkers knew what to do when I collapsed. Thankfully, a security guard performed CPR on me and used an automated external defibrillator to shock my heart rhythm back.

But what if that security guard hadn't been there? That is why I urge passage of a bill that would require high school students to take simple, 30-minute, hands-only CPR training, just once, before they graduate.

Cardiac arrest is one of the leading causes of death in the United States, and survival rates are less than 6 percent. But bystander CPR can triple a person's chance of survival.
This bill provides such an easy way to teach teens how to save lives.

I plan to become a paramedic after getting my second chance at life. This bill would give every young person a chance to be lifesaver.

JAMIE LALONDE, BLOOMINGTON

Star Tribune- http://www.startribune.com/opinion/letters/148010035.html