Ministry of Education: Incorporating CPR and First Aid into School Health Education

        The Ministry of Education responded to recommendation 6670 of the Third Session of the Thirteenth National People's Congress, which referred to the proposal to make cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) one of the mandatory skills for high school graduates. The reply points out that knowledge of CPR and first aid will be incorporated into school health education, and knowledge of first aid will be incorporated into the relevant curriculum of basic education. Among them, CPR, trauma care and other pre-hospital first aid skills as an important part of health education for college students, clearly stipulating that it is necessary to establish a sense of safety and risk avoidance, master the emergency treatment of common emergencies and injuries, and improve self-rescue and self-rescue capabilities. Explicitly incorporate students' health knowledge and first aid knowledge, especially cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), into the examination content, and take the mastery of health knowledge, first aid knowledge and physical fitness testing as an important indicator for school students' evaluation of excellence, graduation assessment and advancement to the next level of education. In addition, the Ministry of Education, taking into account the age-specific characteristics of primary and secondary school students, has incorporated content related to first aid knowledge into the subjects of ethics and the rule of law, physical education and health, biology, geography and chemistry in primary and secondary schools.
        Response to Recommendation No. 6670 of the Third Session of the Thirteenth National People's Congress.
       Education, Physical Education and Arts Suggestion [2020] No. 208
  “The suggestion of making CPR one of the required skills for high school graduates has been received, and after consulting with the Red Cross Society of China, the reply is as follows:
  Carrying out education on first aid knowledge in schools is of great significance to improving students' ability to deal with emergency care in case of safety emergencies. The Ministry of Education and the Red Cross Society of China attach great importance to this work, and collaborate to promote first aid knowledge education in primary and secondary schools, including CPR.

  I. Clarify the requirements related to CPR and first aid knowledge.In June 2019, the State Council issued the Opinions on the Implementation of Healthy China Actions, which clarifies the implementation of the Healthy China Actions, and puts forward 15 special actions, including primary and secondary school health promotion actions, to improve the health of the whole population.In July 2019, the Committee for Promoting the Action of Healthy China issued the “Healthy China Actions (2019 -2030), making it clear that students' knowledge of health and first aid, especially cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), should be incorporated into the content of the examination, making the degree of mastery of health knowledge, first aid knowledge and physical fitness testing an important indicator for school students' evaluation of excellence and precedence, graduation assessment and advancement to higher education, incorporating high school physical education subjects into the high school academic level test or the comprehensive evaluation system of the college entrance examination, and encouraging colleges and universities to Explore the addition of physical education subject tests in special types of enrollment.

In 2008, the Ministry of Education issued the Guidelines for Health Education in Primary and Secondary Schools, which stipulates that the content of health education in primary and secondary schools includes five areas, including “safety emergency and risk avoidance”, and that the contents of dialing for help, basic first aid knowledge, simple methods of stopping bleeding, and the prevention and treatment of heatstroke will be gradually incorporated into the content of health education at different stages of teaching, In 2017, the Ministry of Education issued the Guidelines for Health Education in General Colleges and Universities, which takes pre-hospital first aid skills such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation and trauma care as an important part of college students' health education, and explicitly stipulates that it is necessary to establish a sense of safety and risk avoidance, master the methods of emergency response to common emergencies and injuries, and improve the ability of self-rescue and mutual aid. (c) Incorporate first aid knowledge into basic education.
  (c) Incorporating first aid knowledge into basic education courses. Taking into account the age-specific characteristics of primary and secondary school students, first aid knowledge has been incorporated into primary and secondary school subjects such as ethics and the rule of law, physical education and health, biology, geography, and chemistry. For example, elementary school science courses require students to learn the basic knowledge and methods of first aid for electrocution, drowning, obstruction of the windpipe by foreign bodies, snake and insect bites, and so on. Morality and the rule of law courses require students to “know how to escape or help in an emergency”. The junior high school biology course requires students to “simulate and practice artificial respiration or stopping bleeding and bandaging”, etc. The senior high school biology course has a special module on “First Aid Measures”, which includes the most basic knowledge and skills of medical first aid measures that citizens must have in case of emergencies, such as The content includes the most basic medical first aid knowledge and skills that citizens must have in an emergency, such as the use of commonly used first aid medicines, “120” emergency call, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, trauma bleeding, swimming accidents, self-help, animal bites, and self-help and self-help after gas poisoning, and other aspects of the content. Physical education and health curriculum requires students to “master and apply the knowledge and methods of safe exercise, prevention of common sports injuries and accidents, and elimination of sports fatigue, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation, drowning rescue and other knowledge and skills”, “master and apply the knowledge and methods of safe avoidance, such as crowded, riot and terrorism, and other emergencies to avoid and avoid danger. events and other emergencies, such as risk avoidance and first aid common sense”.
  The Comprehensive Practical Activity Curriculum Guidelines for Primary and Secondary Schools issued in September 2017 incorporates the strengthening of students' first aid and self-protection education into comprehensive practical activities, and combines the age characteristics of students in different school years to recommend thematic activities such as the safe use and maintenance of household electrical appliances, the development of natural disaster emergency plans and drills, and guides schools in organizing students to carry out practical activities to strengthen the cultivation of emergency protection skills.
  (d) Strengthening emergency rescue training in schools. Local Red Cross societies and education departments are actively promoting emergency rescue training in schools. The Red Cross has edited and published a series of reading books by academic segments, carried out training for health and safety counselors in some provinces, built safety education experience classrooms, and supported schools to carry out rescue support activities, including supporting 25 provinces such as Inner Mongolia to carry out activities in 2019, training 30,600 rescuers in schools and communities, carrying out rescue lectures to popularize the program for 32,900 times, and carrying out rescue drills 58 times. “During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the Red Cross will carry out the creation of standardized ambulance training demonstration bases, supporting the construction of 150 standardized training bases in localities, realizing the three basic functions of training, experience and dissemination, and becoming an important place for primary and secondary school students to take part in emergency ambulance training and experience activities.
  As a next step, the Ministry of Education will continue to promote the Healthy China Initiative to promote health in primary and secondary schools, and will work with the Red Cross Society of China to do a good job of publicizing and educating young students in first aid, so as to promote the healthy growth of students.