More than 14,000 Kentuckians die each year from cardiovascular conditions, according to the American Heart Association. While CPR training is already required in Kentucky schools, the organization is advocating for more state fu nding to help those training programs grow and become more effective.Emergency situations don't pick and choose when or where they happen. Often, people aren't close to a hospital or don't have an automated external defibrillator or other equipment within reach. In most cases, the person who could save a life is likely to be a friend, family member or colleague."It's going to be saved by a friend, a family member, a coworker. Or just someone walking by," said Jon Dye, American Heart Association's government relations director for Kentucky.The AHA says around 350,000 people in the United States experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest each year."70% of those will happen in a home setting. Unfortunately, only one in 10 of those folks will survive," said Dye.This is why CPR training is so important.In 2016, Kentucky passed Senate Bill 33, which makes CPR training a high school graduation requirement. The problem is that in the 10 years since the bill passed, the American Heart Association says there's been no funding at the state level."We're really looking for more uniformity and just again making sure that the schools have the materials, the mannequins, those mannequins alone can cost a couple thousand dollars. And we want to make sure they're hitting the right pressure points, that they're doing the right things so that their training is really worthwhile when they're thrown into that emergency situation," said Dye.This legislative session, the American Heart Association is asking for $250,000 in appropriations to go toward school CPR programs across Kentucky."We want to make sure that we are creating a nation of lifesavers and that it's not just one or two days in a PE class freshman year and then it's forgotten about. We want to make sure that it's an experience that they'll remember and will have them prepared when an emergency situation arrives," said Dye.The goal is to make students across the Commonwealth prepared for any emergency that may arise."This just seems to cast the widest net of truly having a population that's ready to go in these emergency situations," said Dye. ...read more read less