89R3721 CMO-F
By: Gervin-Hawkins H.B. No. 637
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of bleeding control stations in public
schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 38.030, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b) and (d) and adding Subsections (b-1),
(b-2), (b-3), and (l) to read as follows:
(b) The protocol required under this section must:
(1) provide for a school district or open-enrollment
charter school to maintain and make available to school employees
and volunteers bleeding control stations, as described by
Subsection (d), for use in the event of a traumatic injury involving
blood loss;
(2) ensure that bleeding control stations are stored
in easily accessible areas of the campus that are selected by the
district's school safety and security committee or the charter
school's governing body;
(3) require that agency-approved training on the use
of a bleeding control station in the event of an injury to another
person be provided to:
(A) each school district peace officer
commissioned under Section 37.081 or school security personnel
employed under that section who provides security services at the
campus;
(B) each school resource officer who provides law
enforcement at the campus; [and]
(C) each armed security officer required to be
present at the campus under Section 37.0814 who is not otherwise
described by Paragraph (A) or (B); and
(D) all other district or school personnel who
may be reasonably expected to use a bleeding control station; and
(4) require the district or charter school to annually
offer instruction on the use of a bleeding control station from a
school resource officer or other appropriate district or school
personnel who has received the training under Subdivision (3) to
students enrolled at the campus in grade four [seven] or higher.
(b-1) A student shall be excused from instruction on the use
of a bleeding control station provided under Subsection (b)(4) on
the written request of a parent or legal guardian without being
subjected to any disciplinary action, academic penalty, or other
sanction.
(b-2) Instruction on the use of a bleeding control station
provided under Subsection (b)(4) to students enrolled at the campus
in grades four, five, and six:
(1) must be appropriate for the student's age and grade
level;
(2) may not use instructional documents that contain
or depict graphic images or graphic descriptions of incidents or
injuries that require bleeding control; and
(3) must be provided with a behavioral health
professional present during the instruction.
(b-3) Instruction on proper chest seal placement may not be
provided to a student.
(d) A bleeding control station required under this section
must contain all of the following required supplies in quantities
determined appropriate by the superintendent of the district or the
director of the school:
(1) tourniquets approved for use in battlefield trauma
care by the armed forces of the United States;
(2) chest seals;
(3) compression bandages;
(4) bleeding control bandages;
(5) space emergency blankets;
(6) latex-free gloves;
(7) markers;
(8) scissors; [and]
(9) instructional documents developed by the American
College of Surgeons or the United States Department of Homeland
Security detailing methods to prevent blood loss following a
traumatic event; and
(10) emergency alerting devices.
(l) In this section:
(1) "Behavioral health professional" means:
(A) a licensed specialist in school psychology
licensed under Chapter 501, Occupations Code;
(B) a licensed professional counselor licensed
under Chapter 503, Occupations Code;
(C) a licensed clinical social worker licensed
under Chapter 505, Occupations Code; or
(D) a school counselor with an appropriate
certificate or permit issued under Subchapter B, Chapter 21.
(2) "Emergency alerting device" means a device
designed to send, once the case containing the device is opened, an
emergency alert that provides continuous information about the
location of the device to preprogrammed recipients, including 9-1-1
call centers, school resource officers, and emergency services
personnel, using multiple forms of communication technology to
ensure connectivity, including cellular telephone technology,
Bluetooth technology, global positioning system technology,
general packet radio service technology, and wireless computer
networking technology.
(3) "Instructional document" means any book, record,
file, or other instrument or material used to provide instruction
on the use of a bleeding control station provided under Subsection
(b)(4).
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026
school year.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2025.