State Senator Doris Turner passed a measure through committee to mandate training for emergency medical dispatchers on how to provide CPR instructions to someone experiencing cardiac arrest.

Senate Bill 1295 would mandate all 9-1-1 telecommunicators to be trained in telecommunicator-CPR and would require emergency medical dispatchers to be trained in T-CPR. T-CPR is when a dispatcher provides over-the-phone CPR instructions to someone experiencing cardiac arrest. This process is a key part of the chain of survival for cardiac arrest.

Senate Bill 1295 is an initiative of the American Heart Association with backing from the Illinois State Police. The trainings would be put on by the Office of the Statewide 9-1-1 Administrator, which is a division of the Illinois State Police.

Senate Bill 1295 passed the Senate State Government Committee with bipartisan support.