Arguing that every minute counts in a heart attack, Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday signed a bill that will require New York’s public schools to develop plans to respond to cardiac emergencies.
The new law was prompted by the death of Desha Sanders, a 12-year-old girl who in 2009 collapsed while playing basketball at her school in western New York. The building had a defibrillator — which uses an electrical shock to jumpstart a stalled heart — but it was locked.
“No one could locate the keys to open it,” said state Sen. April Baskin, a Buffalo Democrat who is Sanders’ cousin. “And as precious, precious minutes ticked by, Desha’s life hung by a thread.”…