Every day across America, millions of people board airplanes for commercial travel. In 2011, 632,000,000 people took to the skies in our country. Interestingly, not one of those passengers is allowed to fly without hearing these words: “insert the clasp into the buckle; the nearest exit may be behind you; the lights on the floor will light up; and in the event of an emergency, oxygen masks will drop.”
I only fly a few times a year, but as you can see, I have this memorized. It makes me wonder . . . why do they tell us this every time? My guess is that flying is really dangerous and we need to be very prepared.
So, I went looking for this danger. In 2011, the same year that 632 million people took to the skies, one plane commercial flight in our country had an emergency landing affecting 122 passengers; nobody died. Hmmm . . .
Last year, 2,000 students died of sudden cardiac arrest. If that’s not enough, another 350,000 adults died from the same thing. Given these stats, I’m glad that PA passed the first law to educate parents and coaches about the warning signs of sudden cardiac arrest. I hope that the rest of the States will follow suit.
After all, if our society requires that 632,000,000 are prepared to help 122 others, then I suggest that the 55 million students attending our public schools nationwide should be prepared to help the 2,000 other students (probably more) that will die next year from sudden cardiac arrest.
