North America CPR Update · October 2026
CPR training demand is rising as schools face new rules and providers retrain on the 2025 guidelines
Four developments from the past three months matter to anyone who teaches, schedules or needs CPR certification in North America.
1. California signs SB 945, "CPR in Schools"
Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 945 on October 1, 2026. The law asks the state's Instructional Quality Commission to consider adding Hands-Only CPR and AED content when it next updates the physical education framework for public high schools. It builds on an existing law that requires Hands-Only CPR instruction in high schools that require a health class to graduate. Source: American Heart Association newsroom, Oct 1, 2026
2. Pennsylvania's Greg Moyer's Law raises the bar for school staff
The law sets aside $2.5 million in grants for CPR and AED training and helps schools obtain AEDs. Schools must offer CPR and AED training to employees and volunteers at least every two years instead of every three, keep at least one certified person in each building during the school day, and keep coaches, athletic directors, PE teachers, marching band directors and school nurses certified. Schools have until May 2029 to comply. Source: McNees Wallace & Nurick, Aug 11, 2026
3. The 2025 AHA guidelines are now in classrooms
The 2025 AHA Guidelines for CPR and Emergency Cardiovascular Care merge the four separate chains of survival into one six-link chain for all ages and settings. They use "lay rescuer" instead of "bystander" and say clothing such as a bra should not delay AED pad placement. The authors encourage lay responders to update their training. Source: CHEST Physician, Mar 18, 2026
4. Fewer than half of cardiac arrest victims get CPR from a bystander
The CARES registry's national summary covers 1,269,409 non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrests from 2013 to 2025. Bystanders started CPR in 41.3% of them, and 10.2% of patients survived to hospital discharge. Source: CARES 2013–2025 National Summary Report
What we see on the ground
School rules like Pennsylvania's create recurring, scheduled demand: every coach and PE teacher needs a valid card, and renewals now come every two years. Training providers that can schedule small groups quickly, including evenings and weekends, will be easier for schools to work with. AUTOCPR centers are built for this: learners finish coursework online and complete a short skills session on smart manikins that record their compressions.