On Jan. 20, a critical new school safety requirement officially took effect across New York state. That date marked the full implementation of Desha’s Law, a lifesaving bill I passed to ensure that when a cardiac emergency happens in a school, staff know exactly what to do and they will have immediate access to tools that can save lives.

Desha’s Law requires every public school to develop a Cardiac Emergency Response Plan and to provide cardiac arrest response training to staff so that automated external defibrillators (AEDs) can be used quickly and effectively for students, school personnel and visitors. This training is crucial in the event of a cardiac arrest, where every second counts.

The law is named in honor of my cousin, Desha Sanders. In 2009, when Desha was 12 years old, she died after she collapsed during basketball practice at Hoover Middle School. Although there was an AED available at the school, there was no plan in place and no one could locate the keys to open it.

Here in Cheektowaga, the Cleveland Hill School District stands out as a model of what meaningful implementation looks like. While the formal written plan is new, Cleveland Hill’s commitment to cardiac preparedness is not. For more than 15 years, the district has trained administrators in CPR and AED use, ensuring that trained responders are present in school buildings and at school-sponsored events, Superintendent David Evans said.

After Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac emergency on the field in 2023, the district decided to strengthen its preparedness by expanding hands-only CPR training to broaden staff readiness. These efforts proved lifesaving last year when two trained administrators performed CPR on a grandfather who experienced a cardiac emergency at a football game, ultimately saving his life.

Cardiac emergencies do not wait for perfect conditions. The difference between life and death often comes down to preparation. Cleveland Hill’s leadership should give families confidence that our schools are ready to respond.

Though Desha’s Law was created from unimaginable grief, its purpose is to prevent the same kind of tragedy from ever happening again. By ensuring that schools have clear emergency plans, accessible lifesaving equipment and trained staff, the law helps protect students, educators and community members in the one place they should always be the safest: school.