HB 4107 amends Michigan’s Revised School Code to expand and clarify required health education content for students in grades 7 through 12. The bill directs the Department of Education to ensure that model health curriculum standards include instruction in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), automated external defibrillator (AED) use, and instruction on first aid response kits, including Stop the Bleed-related training. It specifies that CPR instruction should, where possible, include psychomotor skills and hands-on practice, and that the instruction be based on recognized programs or evidence-based guidelines from organizations such as the American Red Cross or American Heart Association.
The bill also addresses who may provide this instruction and under what circumstances. It allows certificated teachers to facilitate or oversee CPR instruction without being authorized CPR/AED instructors if the instruction does not lead to a CPR certification card or status. If students are to receive certification, however, the instruction must be taught by an authorized CPR/AED instructor. Schools are encouraged to use local resources such as EMTs, paramedics, police officers, firefighters, nurses, Red Cross or Heart Association representatives, and trained teachers or staff to deliver the instruction.
HB 4107 further requires that first aid response kit instruction include specific items such as tourniquets, bleeding control dressings, compression bandages, gloves, trauma shears, a marker, and instructions for use. It also exempts fully online schools or programs from the requirement to incorporate psychomotor skills into the instruction, recognizing the limitations of 100% online delivery.
The bill’s impact is to update state curriculum expectations and school health education requirements, while leaving local districts flexibility in how they implement the instruction. It affects public school districts, public school academies, and nonpublic schools by embedding emergency response education into grades 7-12 health instruction and by defining when certification-level instruction must be delivered by qualified outside instructors. It also amends statutory definitions related to CPR/AED instructors and certification credentials.
The general sentiment around the bill appears strongly favorable. It was reported out of committee without amendment by a 15-0 vote and then passed the House on third reading by a wide margin of 96-3, indicating broad bipartisan support for expanding student emergency preparedness training. The main points of discussion implied by the text are practical implementation issues rather than opposition to the policy itself, especially around hands-on training, certification requirements, and the role of local instructors and online programs.
HB 4107 would amend MCL 380.1170a in the Revised School Code to expand required health education standards for grades 7-12 to include CPR, AED, and first aid response kit instruction, with specific content and training expectations. It also clarifies when a certificated teacher may oversee instruction versus when an authorized CPR/AED instructor is required, and exempts fully online programs from hands-on psychomotor requirements. The bill affects school districts, public school academies, and nonpublic schools by embedding emergency response education into the state’s model health curriculum standards.
The bill appears to have received very strong support. It was reported from committee 15-0 without amendment and passed the House 96-3 with immediate effect, suggesting broad agreement that CPR, AED, and bleeding-control education should be part of student health instruction. No committee transcript was provided, but the vote pattern indicates little visible opposition to the underlying policy.
The main issues reflected in the bill text are implementation details rather than broad policy disagreement. Potential points of contention include whether hands-on psychomotor training should be required, who should be allowed to teach certification-level CPR instruction, and how schools without in-person instruction can comply. The bill resolves these by allowing noncertified teachers to oversee non-certification instruction, requiring authorized instructors only when certification is issued, and exempting 100% online schools from psychomotor-skill requirements. These provisions suggest the likely concerns came from educators and administrators focused on feasibility, staffing, and online-program compliance rather than from opponents of emergency preparedness instruction itself.