What Desha’s Law requires
Desha’s Law adds sudden cardiac arrest to New York’s school safety planning. It amends two sections of the Education Law: section 2801-a, on school safety plans, and section 917, on school AEDs.
The law has four working parts:
- A cardiac emergency response plan. The district-wide school safety team must “develop and implement a cardiac emergency response plan” (Education Law § 2801-a(2)(n)).
- Building-level procedures. Each building’s emergency response plan must include policies and procedures for responding to sudden cardiac arrest, alongside evacuation, sheltering and lockdown (§ 2801-a(3)(a)).
- Training. The annual school safety training for staff and students must include sudden cardiac arrest (§ 2801-a(2)(h)).
- AED condition. School AEDs must be “clearly marked, accessible, and maintained” to American Heart Association guidelines or other nationally recognized emergency cardiovascular care guidelines (§ 917(1)).
It builds on rules New York schools already followed. Section 917 has long required an AED in every instructional school facility, and the State Education Department notes that existing law already requires at least one staff member trained in CPR and AED use at school facilities and events. Desha’s Law doesn’t change the number of AEDs a school needs.
Who it applies to and by when
The plan duty falls on public school districts, through their district-wide school safety teams and building-level plans. The AED duty in section 917 covers school districts, charter schools, boards of cooperative educational services (BOCES) and county vocational education and extension boards.
The dates came from the bill and the State Education Department’s August 14, 2025 memo:
- July 24, 2025: the governor signed A785-A / S5539-A as Chapter 189 of the Laws of 2025.
- September 1, 2025: the change to building-level emergency response plans took effect. The State Education Department added a cardiac emergency response plan annex to its building-level plan template, with plans due by October 1, 2025.
- January 20, 2026: the rest of the law took effect, 180 days after signing: the district-wide plan, the training change and the AED wording. The memo asked districts to post their amended district-wide plans for 30 days ahead of that date.
The law is written for schools, not other employers. For the rest of New York’s AED rules, see New York AED laws, and compare other states on AEDs in schools by state.
What a cardiac emergency response plan includes
Desha’s Law sets four things the plan must do, and leaves the details to each district. The plan has to be written down.
- Name the responders. It addresses the use of appropriate personnel to respond to sudden cardiac arrest or another life-threatening emergency on any school site or at any school-sponsored event, including all athletic programs.
- Cover each athletic venue. It includes specific procedures for athletic practices and events on school grounds, written for each venue.
- Follow recognized guidance. It integrates nationally recognized, evidence-based core elements, such as those the American Heart Association recommends.
- Connect with EMS. School officials must consider how to fit the plan into community EMS responder protocols.
The district-wide safety team may also offer first aid, CPR and AED training to relevant staff, including building-level emergency response teams, but that training is voluntary. The American Heart Association’s school checklist covers the same ground in more detail: a response team, sharing the plan, AED placement and maintenance, ongoing training, drills and an annual review. Our cardiac emergency response plan template follows it and is free to adapt.
AED placement, inspection and drills
Every instructional school building must have AEDs on site, in the numbers and types the state requires, clearly marked, accessible and maintained to recognized guidelines. Desha’s Law doesn’t require drills.
Placement: section 917 asks for AEDs in quantities and types the education commissioner, with the health commissioner, considers adequate for ready access in an emergency. “Accessible” matters in practice: an AED locked in a nurse’s office after hours or behind a gym door during a game doesn’t meet the spirit of the law. Our AED placement guide covers how far an AED should be from any spot in a building.
Inspection: maintaining an AED to AHA guidelines means following the manufacturer’s schedule: check the status indicator, the pads’ and battery’s dates and the cabinet regularly, usually monthly, and replace anything used or expired. Write each check down. Our AED inspection checklist lists what to look at.
Drills: the bill as first introduced required annual practice drills, but that language was removed before it passed, and the State Education Department’s memo doesn’t require them either. Drills are still worth doing. The American Heart Association recommends practicing the plan like a fire or lockdown drill, and a timed walk from each venue to its nearest AED is the quickest way to find a gap.
Keeping the AED side of the plan compliant
The plan is only as good as the AEDs behind it. A district needs to know, for every building, that each AED is where the plan says, in date and ready, and that the people named in the plan are trained.
That’s the part AED Log handles. Each school is a location, so a principal, nurse or athletic trainer sees only their own building while the district safety team sees every one. Monthly inspections are done on a phone and saved with the date and inspector. Pads and batteries warn you before they expire, responders’ CPR and AED cards are tracked, and the plan itself, signed off, sits in the document library next to the AEDs it covers.
AED Log doesn’t write the plan for you. Start from our template, then let AED Log keep the equipment and training records the plan depends on. See AED management for schools.
Desha’s Law FAQ
What is Desha’s Law?
A 2025 New York law that requires each school district’s safety plan to include a written cardiac emergency response plan, adds sudden cardiac arrest to staff and student safety training, and requires school AEDs to be clearly marked, accessible and maintained.
When did Desha’s Law take effect?
Its main parts took effect on January 20, 2026, 180 days after it was signed on July 24, 2025. The change to building-level emergency response plans took effect earlier, on September 1, 2025.
Does Desha’s Law apply to private schools?
It isn’t written for them. The plan requirement is part of public school districts’ safety plans, and the AED rule covers districts, BOCES, county vocational boards and charter schools. Private schools aren’t named in either, so ask your counsel.
Does Desha’s Law require cardiac emergency drills?
No. An early version of the bill required annual drills, but that was removed before it passed. The American Heart Association still recommends practicing the plan, the way schools practice fire and lockdown drills.
Sources
Read on each organization’s own website on . Check the law and your district’s counsel before you rely on it.
- New York State Senate: S5539-A (2025): Desha’s Law, bill text and history
- New York State Senate: A785-A (2025): signed as Chapter 189 of the Laws of 2025
- New York State Education Department: Desha’s Law: cardiac arrest emergency response plans (memo, August 14, 2025)
- New York State Senate: Education Law § 917, AEDs in schools
- New York State Senate: Education Law § 2801-a, school safety plans
- American Heart Association: Cardiac Emergency Response Plan (CERP) for schools