Bill Summaries: H116 (2017-2018 Session)

Tracking:
  • Summary date: Mar 22 2017 - View summary

    House Committee Substitute makes the following changes to the 1st edition:

    Amends new GS 115C-407.41, and GS 115C-407.42 to require all students who participate in athletic activities and their parents to receive, on an annual basis, a sudden cardiac arrest information sheet and a heat exhaustion and heat stroke information sheet. Requires parents to sign and return the sheets to the coach before their children can participate in any athletic activities. Requires schools to maintain complete and accurate records of their compliance with these requirements. Requires a CPR-certified head coach or athletic director to be present during each athletic activity and deletes the provision requiring a coach to complete the required training courses in order to be eligible to coach.

    Authorizes licensed athletic trainers (currently, verified athletic trainers), in addition to the currently specified individuals, to determine the existence of heat exhaustion or heat stroke symptoms in a student athlete. Requires a student athlete showing heat exhaustion or heat stroke symptoms to be removed from participation in an athletic activity (currently, removed by the coach from participation). Removes the athlete's parent from the list of individuals who can approve the individual's return to the athletic activity.

    Directs the State Board of Education to adopt rules governing athletic activities (currently, interscholastic athletic activities) with regard to concussion safety for students who participate in an athletic activity (currently, student athletes in middle and high school). Removes the athlete's parents from the list of people authorized to approve the athlete's return to the athletic activity. Makes conforming changes.

    Requires local boards of education to require middle and high schools to develop venue-specific emergency action plans to deal with catastrophic illnesses or injuries and acute medical conditions (currently, serious injuries and acute medical conditions). Requires the plan to include automatic external defibrillators and access to and a plan for emergency transport.


  • Summary date: Feb 15 2017 - View summary

    Adds new Article 29E, Student Safety in Athletics, in GS Chapter 115C. Defines athletic activity, catastrophic illness or injury, concussion, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and sudden cardiac arrest as those terms are used in new Article 29E.

    Requires the State Board of Education (Board) to develop guidelines and educational material for use by local boards of education to inform student athletes and their parents and coaches about the awareness, recognition, and management of cardiac arrest. Allows these guidelines and materials to be provided through a directory of relevant websites. Requires the Board to publish a list of approved providers of CPR instruction training courses to be offered to coaches of athletic activities. Directs each local school administrative unit to require the head coach or the athletic director for each athletic activity to complete and maintain CPR certification offered by a provider approved by the Board. Prohibits a coach from being eligible to coach an athletic activity until the coach completes the training course. Encourages other sponsors of youth athletic activities to adopt guidelines to address sudden cardiac arrest for students participating in athletics that are consistent with this statute. 

    Requires the Board to adopt guidelines and educational material for use by local boards of education to inform student athletes and their parents and coaches about heat-related illnesses and the risks associated with continuing play or practice after showing signs of heat-related illness. Allows these guidelines and materials to be provided through a directory of relevant websites. Requires local boards of education to adopt heat stroke prevention protocols. Requires students showing symptoms of heat exhaustion or heat stroke to be removed from participation and prohibits returning until the student is cleared to return by either (1) the student's parent or legal guardian or (2) a licensed healthcare professional or other official designated in the emergency action plan. Encourages other sponsors of youth athletic activities to adopt guidelines to address heat-related illness for students participating in athletics that are consistent with this statute.

    Requires the Board to adopt rules governing interscholastic athletic activities with regard to concussion safety for athletes in middle and high school that includes the specified provisions, including requiring the students showing symptoms of a concussion to be removed from the activity and not be allowed to return until the student receives written clearance from one of the listed professionals or the student's parent or legal guardian.

    Requires the student's parents or guardian, prior to participation by a student in an athletic activity, to sign an acknowledgment each school year of receipt and review of (1) a sudden cardiac arrest awareness information sheet developed in accordance with GS 115C-407.41, (2) a heat-related awareness information sheet developed in accordance with GS 115C-407.42, and (3) a concussion awareness sheet developed in accordance with GS 115C-407.43. Requires that each school year, prior to participation by a student in an athletic activity, the student must complete a pre-participation athletic activity form that includes questions related to cardiac health history developed in accordance with materials provided by the Board under GS 115C-407.41. Allows a school to hold an informational meeting prior to the start of each athletic season for all ages of competitors regarding student safety in athletics, and encourages schools to have physicians, pediatric cardiologists, and athletic trainers to attend the meeting to provide information to students, parents, coaches, and other school employees.

    Requires the local board of education to require middle and high schools to develop venue-specific emergency action plans to deal with serious injuries and acute medical conditions in which the patient's condition may deteriorate rapidly. Sets out requirements for the plan. 

    Directs the Board to create a database maintained by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) for high school and middle school personnel to report catastrophic illnesses and injuries and concussions occurring during athletic activities involving student athletes. Directs the Board to assign a school code for each middle and high school for these reporting purposes. Specifies the minimum information that must be included in a report by high school and middle school personnel. Requires monthly reporting by the athletic director or designee or the principal to DPI when student athletes are participating in an athletic activity on whether a catastrophic illness or injury or concussion has occurred involving a student athlete. Limits the entities to which DPI may provide access to the information contained in the database. Prohibits the database from containing personally identifiable student data as defined in GS 115C-402.5. Establishes that the information in the database in not public record. Provides that these reporting requirements apply to injuries and illnesses that occur on or after January 1, 2018.

    Creates limited civil liability immunity for a local board of education, volunteers, the Board, and DPI in carrying out the provisions of new Article 29E.

    Makes conforming changes to GS 115C-12.

    Applies beginning with the 2017-18 school year.