CPR, a life-saving technique, is now a required part of the curriculum for every Port Richmond High School student, making it the first so-called "CPR-smart" school in the city. NY1's Amanda Farinacci filed the following report.

A simple technique for the Port Richmond High School students learning CPR - do chest compressions to the beat of the popular Bee Gee's song Stayin' Alive.

"I was like, just do that? Do a song and then evereything's good? I was like all right, this is good, this is good," said Tarrook Topping, a student.

Of course, there's more to CPR than chest compressions. Students also learn how to identify someone in sudden cardiac arrest, when to call 911, and how to use a defibrillator. 

It's all part of a new curriculum at Port Richmond High, the first designated CPR Smart School in the city. 

"Hopefully, a year from today, we will have 2,000 more teenagers on Staten Island ready to save a life," said Port Richmond Principal Tim Gannon.

"For me to be able to save a life, that's a great honor," said Charles Henriquez, a student.

Twenty other states have made it a law to train high school students on CPR.

"If New York became that 21st state, I would be absolutely floored," said Melinda Murray, whose son died of sudden cardiac arrest.

A proposal to mandate CPR training in schools must first win the approval of the state Board of Regents before it can be voted into law. 

Murray has been lobbying hard to make sure that happens. 

Her son, Dominic, was playing basketball at his college when he collapsed. 

A gym full of people - and no one knew how to help revive him until an ambulance arrived. 

He was pronounced dead of sudden cardiac arrest, just 17 years old. 

"A simple thing like chest compressions is going to tremendously increase the rate of survival. Double, and sometimes even triple," said Staten Island Borough Director of Health and Wellness Ginny Mantello.

"It's less time than it takes to watch a sitcom - these kids can go off into their world, off to college, and beyond, and they know how to save a life. It's time well spent," said Robin Vitale of the American Heart Association.