According to the National Library of Medicine, “Despite a government-mandated curriculum, only 56% of high schools offer CPR and AED training.” In some schools in the United States, like Redwood, during Physical Education (PE) classes, students are taught emergency training and fitness skills. At Redwood, the emergency training unit in PE includes CPR, self-defense, and lifeguard training. The emergency training unit in PE is crucial during high school because it helps save lives and prepares students to react in life-threatening situations. Students can get cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certified through the Redwood PE curriculum and learn self-defense and lifeguard training. The emergency training curriculum is vital because it teaches students how to save lives and should be taught in schools worldwide.
“Teaching school-age children how to perform CPR and use AEDs is a reliable and sustainable method for increasing rates of bystander CPR and survival,” according to the PubMed Center. Teaching high school students CPR training can teach them to help others in life-or-death situations. According to the American Heart Association, “​​If performed immediately, CPR can double or triple the chance of survival from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.” Learning CPR in school is vital to help save lives.
Like CPR, self-defense can help prepare students for emergencies and is critical to learn. Self-defense training can help students be better prepared to defend themselves when in danger. According to the Grandview Chronicle, less than 1 percent of the population knows how to do self-defense. Self-defense classes can empower students and help provide them with the skills and confidence required to protect themselves in dangerous situations.
Lifeguarding is a necessary skill that saves lives, especially in communities near the coast like Marin. According to reports by the International Lifesaving Federation, certified lifesavers and lifeguards rescue over 1 million people in danger yearly. With students learning these skills, even more lives can be saved.

While skills like self-defense, lifeguarding and CPR training are important to learn, some people don’t think they should be taught in PE. For CPR, expensive equipment is necessary. “Schools are holding back teaching CPR in school because of the lack of funding which will lead to a lack of qualified instructors and the supplies necessary to teach CPR,” according to CPR Educators Incorporated. If schools are not receiving the funding they need, they can contact local CPR providers to learn what options they have to teach their students. According to the Krav Maga Institute, as students learn self defense techniques there are times when they can use them violently. While some students may use these skills violently, these are essential skills and those students could learn these same skills online anyway. Self-defense is a vital course to help save lives.
Learning emergency training in PE helps educate students on how to better protect themselves and save lives. Teaching these skills in school provides a safe space for students to learn and practice these skills so they can use them in emergencies.