Knox County Schools shall establish and annually review a cardiac emergency response plan (CERP) at each school within the district.¹

Each school CERP shall:

Identify the number of AEDs that must be placed within each school building or on school grounds that are used for academic, athletic, or other community purposes, in addition to the initial AED required.

1. Establish a cardiac emergency response team at each public school that is responsible for carrying out the CERP, including the response protocols each team is responsible for implementing and overseeing in a sudden cardiac arrest event. The responsibilities and chain of command designated in the CERP for the respective cardiac emergency response team must align with those outlined in the athletic emergency action plan (AEAP) required under Knox County Board of Education Policy C-222.
2. The CERP will be disseminated to students, parents, teachers, administrators, and other school employees at least once each school year, and posted prominently in each school building and on school grounds used for academic, athletic, or other community purposes, as well as on the district website of each school.
3. Identify the training required for members of the cardiac emergency response team, and for any teachers, administrators, or other school employees, to assist such individuals in understanding the severity of sudden cardiac arrest events, to educate such individuals on how to respond in such circumstances, and to notify such individuals of the existence, content, and guidance available in the CERP, which must include training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), first aid, and the use of an AED.
4. Be reviewed at least annually by the Knox County Board of Education, or its designee, semiannually by each cardiac emergency response team, and no later than ten (10) days after a sudden cardiac arrest event occurs within a school, or on the grounds of a school, by the cardiac emergency response team and the Director of Schools.

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Legal References: 

1. T.C.A. § 49-2-122. 

Approved as to Legal Form 

By Knox County Law Director 8/16/2024 

/Gary T. Dupler/Deputy Law Director