Illinois lawmakers passed a bill requiring schools to have female CPR manikins for training.
The bill would require schools to have breasted CPR manikins. It passed the Senate by a 43-13 margin and the House previously approved the measure in a 73-38 vote. The measure allows schools to either buy new female CPR manikins or use the manikins they already have and put on lower cost chest covers, which cost between $12 and $16.
Democratic state Rep. Maura Hirschauer, representing a suburb of Chicago, introduced the bill in the House. She said the idea of the bill came from a Naperville student who noticed that all the manikins that she was practicing on were non-breasted manikins.
Republican state Sen. Neil Anderson, representing an area between Peoria and the Quad Cities, is a CPR-certified paramedic. He said had some concerns about the necessity of breasted CPR manikins.
“I can tell you that whether someone has breast tissue or no breast tissue has no real world application,” Anderson said. “The process of CPR, despite the amount of breast tissue you have, does not matter.”
Democratic state Sen. Michael Halpin, representing the Quad Cities, said most people agree on the “scientific merits [and] there is no difference” when applying CPR to different genders.
“My understanding is that the genesis of this is that sometimes bystanders and other responders feel apprehensive about the experience,” Halpin said.
Women are 27% less likely to receive CPR from a bystander than men because of concerns of inappropriate touching, exposing of the chest or accusations of sexual assault, according to the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Republican state Sen. Jil Tracy, representing a rural area between Springfield and the Missouri border, mentioned that the women’s caucus has done CPR training where they call their female manikins “Annie.”
Tracy voted against the bill.
The bill now goes to the governor’s desk for him to sign.
House votes
- [R] Jason Bunting - No
- [D] Sharon Chung - Yes
- [R] Regan Deering - No
- [D] Jehan Gordon-Booth - Yes
- [R] Bill Hauter - No
- [R] Ryan Spain - No
- [R] Dennis Tipsword - No
- [R] Travis Weaver - No
Senate Votes
- [R] Neil Anderson - No
- [R] Li Arellano - No
- [R] Chris Balkema - No
- [D] Dave Koehler - Yes
- [R] Sally Turner - No
