In response to the collapse of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin on the field earlier this month, a Democratic state lawmaker is proposing a measure that would require youth sports coaches to receive CPR training.
Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara’s bill would expand the current requirement for high school coaches to have CPR training to include all youth sports coaches.
“Watching the Buffalo Bills game, we all realized the importance of immediate first aid in these emergency situations,” Santabarbara said in a statement. “That’s why I’m introducing legislation to make sure that all coaches of youth sports in New York State have basic CPR training and are able to administer first aid in these moments where every second counts.”
The incident has also sparked a broader debate over football safety. Assemblyman Michael Benedetto, a Democratic lawmaker from the Bronx, reintroduced a bill that would ban tackle football for children 12 and under. The bill has been proposed in the past and was reintroduced this year prior to Hamlin’s injury.
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