TRENTON (WCBS 880) -- As the school year nears, New Jersey lawmakers are considering legislation that would make “bleed control” part of the mandatory health curriculum for the state’s high schoolers.
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Democratic Sens. Joe Vitale and Teresa Ruiz cosponsored a bill in the wake of the May mass shooting at an Uvalde, Texas, elementary school, as well as the June ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that eases restrictions on who can carry a concealed gun.
“The genesis is, of course, the mass shootings and that they be prepared,” Vitale said. “It’s a sad state of affairs that we live in.”
Vitale, who chairs the state Senate’s health committee, helped draft a 2014 law that requires high schoolers to learn CPR and defibrillator use for sudden cardiac events. He pointed to the botched response in Uvalde, saying students may need to step in to save lives during a shooting.
“We want to make sure that if there is an opportunity that they have the ability to be trained in bleeding control and potentially save the life of someone,” the senator said.
The “bleed control” lessons would teach high school students how to apply pressure, use torniquets and communicate with emergency dispatchers.
New Jersey has stricter gun laws than most states, but the recent Supreme Court ruling will force authorities to drop the “justifiable need” requirement for people to carry concealed firearms.
State police estimate more than 200,000 New Jerseyans will apply for concealed carry permits in the wake of the ruling.
“I am concerned about having that many guns available on the street,” Vitale said.
He said the ruling will make the requirements for concealed carrying in the state “really thin.”
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