A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to require the state board of education and local boards of education to educate those involved in school athletic activities on sudden cardiac arrest and to recodify the statutory provisions on concussion safety and emergency action plans.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Chapter 115C of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Article to read:
"Article 29E.
"Student Safety in Athletics.
"§ 115C‑407.40.  Definitions.
The following definitions apply in this Article:
(1)	Athletic activity. – An activity offered to students in any of the following circumstances:
a.	Interscholastic athletics.
b.	An athletic contest or competition, other than interscholastic athletics, that is sponsored by a school, including cheerleading, or any other sports activities provided by a club or school‑affiliated organization that is school‑sponsored.
c.	Practices, interschool practices, and scrimmages for all of the activities listed under this subdivision.
(2)	Concussion. – A traumatic brain injury caused by a direct or indirect impact to the head that results in disruption of normal brain function, which may or may not result in loss of consciousness.
(3)	Sudden cardiac arrest. – The sudden, unexpected loss of heart function, breathing, and consciousness.
"§ 115C‑407.41.  Sudden cardiac arrest education.
(a)	The State Board of Education shall develop guidelines and educational materials to be used by local boards of education to inform students who participate in athletic activities and those students' parents and coaches on the awareness, recognition, and management of sudden cardiac arrest. In developing these guidelines and materials, the State Board may utilize existing materials developed by heart health awareness organizations, including the American Heart Association, Parent Heart Watch, and the Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndromes Foundation. The State Board shall also publish a list of approved providers of CPR Instruction training courses to be offered to coaches of athletic activities.
(b)	Each school year, prior to participation by a student in an athletic activity, the student's parent or guardian shall sign and return to the student's school an acknowledgment of receipt and review of a sudden cardiac arrest awareness information sheet developed in accordance with materials provided by the State Board of Education under subsection (a) of this section.
(c)	Each school year, prior to participation by a student in an athletic activity, the student shall complete a heart history questionnaire as part of the pre‑participation physical examination developed in accordance with materials provided by the State Board of Education under subsection (a) of this section.
(d)	Each local school administrative unit shall require coaches of athletic activities to complete and maintain CPR certification offered by a provider approved by the State Board of Education under subsection (a) of this section. A coach shall not be eligible to coach an athletic activity until such time the coach completes the training course.
(e)	A school may hold an informational meeting prior to the start of each athletic season for all ages of competitors regarding sudden cardiac arrest awareness. A school is encouraged to have physicians, pediatric cardiologists, and athletic trainers attend the meeting to provide information to students, parents, coaches, and other school officials.
(f)	Other sponsors of youth athletic activities are encouraged to adopt guidelines to address sudden cardiac arrest for students participating in athletics that are consistent with this section.
"§ 115C‑407.42.  Concussion safety.
The State Board of Education shall adopt rules governing interscholastic athletic activities with regard to concussion safety for student athletes in middle schools and high schools that provide for the following:
(1)	All coaches, school nurses, athletic directors, first responders, volunteers, students who participate in interscholastic athletic activities, and the parents of those students shall receive, on an annual basis, a concussion and head injury information sheet. School employees, first responders, volunteers, and students must sign the sheet and return it to the coach before they can participate in interscholastic athletic activities, including tryouts, practices, or competition. Parents must sign the sheet and return it to the coach before their children can participate in any such interscholastic athletic activities. The signed sheets shall be maintained in accordance with subdivision (3) of this section.
(2)	If a student participating in an interscholastic athletic activity exhibits signs or symptoms consistent with concussion, the student shall be removed from the activity at that time and shall not be allowed to return to play or practice that day. The student shall not return to play or practice on a subsequent day until the student is evaluated by and receives written clearance for such participation from (i) a physician licensed under Article 1 of Chapter 90 of the General Statutes with training in concussion management, (ii) a neuropsychologist licensed under Article 18A of Chapter 90 of the General Statutes with training in concussion management and working in consultation with a physician licensed under Article 1 of Chapter 90 of the General Statutes, (iii) an athletic trainer licensed under Article 34 of Chapter 90 of the General Statutes, (iv) a physician assistant, consistent with the limitations of G.S. 90‑18.1, or (v) a nurse practitioner, consistent with the limitations of G.S. 90‑18.2.
(3)	Each school shall maintain complete and accurate records of its compliance with the requirements of this section pertaining to head injuries.
"§ 115C‑407.43.  Venue‑specific emergency action plans.
A local board of education shall require each middle school and high school to develop a venue‑specific emergency action plan to deal with serious injuries and acute medical conditions in which the condition of the patient may deteriorate rapidly. The plan shall include a delineation of roles, methods of communication, available emergency equipment, and access to and plan for emergency transport. This plan must be (i) in writing, (ii) reviewed by an athletic trainer licensed in North Carolina, (iii) approved by the principal of the school, (iv) distributed to all appropriate personnel, (v) posted conspicuously at all venues, and (vi) reviewed and rehearsed annually by all licensed athletic trainers, first responders, coaches, school nurses, athletic directors, and volunteers for interscholastic athletic activities."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 115C‑12(23) reads as rewritten:
"(23)	Power to Adopt Eligibility Rules for Interscholastic Athletic Competition. – The State Board of Education shall adopt rules governing interscholastic athletic activities conducted by local boards of education, including (i) eligibility for student participation and (ii) student safety in accordance with Article 29E of this Chapter.

	

The State Board of Education may authorize a designated organization to apply and enforce the Board's rules governing participation in interscholastic athletic activities at the high school level."
SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2016‑2017 school year.