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Boynton Beach man pushes for all Florida high school students to learn CPR

Ed Kosiec saved by high school student at Chick-fil-A
Ed Kosiec, pushing for Florida high school students to learn CPR
Posted at 5:09 PM, Feb 17, 2021
and last updated 2021-02-17 18:22:56-05

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — A Boynton Beach man who was saved two years ago by a Chick-fil-A employee is now on a mission to save other lives.

Ed Kosiec went into cardiac arrest, but a high school student working that day helped save his life by performing CPR until Boynton Beach Fire Rescue personnel arrived.

Kosiec now wants all Florida high school students to learn CPR before they graduate.

"If a kid graduates high school and knows CPR skills, now we have an army of lifesavers every year coming out of our school system," Kosiec said.

Ed Kosiec, pushing for Florida high school students learn CPR
Ed Kosiec's nonprofit is working with Florida lawmakers on the bill.

His nonprofit is working with local lawmakers to make this a new law through Senate Bill 280 and House Bill 157.

Bethany Keime is joining Kosiec in his fight. The other half of the bill is asking to screen athletes for heart conditions.

The screenings can help find heart conditions like the one Keime and her sister have.

"With a heart screening, you can detect up to 90% of these conditions before it's too late," Keime said.

Bethany Keime, pushing for new Florida law to screen athletes for health conditions
Bethany Keime wants high school athletes to be screened for heart conditions.

This week the two of them were joined by others to talks about the bills at the Florida Capitol.

Kosiec said they are determined to help save lives.

"The more we get the awareness out, and the more people get involved in the bill, the more we hope to see success in the bill," Kosiec said.

"We shouldn’t just get lucky. It should be the law," Keime said.

The education committee gave the bill 10 yes votes, which moves to the next committee.