Personal Injury Law

General Assembly Passes A2743 - Brain Injury Awareness Program Act

By Bruce Stern

On Monday, the General Assembly passed A2743, a bill designed to create an awareness program on the prevention, risk and treatment of sports-related brain injuries. The Bill, sponsored by Assembly Democrats Patrick J. Diegnan, Jr., Craig J. Coughlin, Thomas P. Giblin and Mila M. Jasey passed by a vote of 78-0.

The bill requires that the state Department of Education (DOE) develop an interscholastic athletic head injury safety training program, concerning the prevention, risk and treatment of sports related concussions and other brain injuries among student athletes. The program would need to be completed by a school physician, a person who coaches an interscholastic sport and an athletic trainer. The program would also create a brain injury fact sheet – to be distributed annually to student-athletes, parents, coaches and athletic trainers – which would provide information concerning the prevention, symptoms and dangers of concussions and other traumatic brain injuries and would contain information on the appropriate amount of time to delay a student's return to physical activity after sustaining such injury.

The program would also require school districts to develop a written policy concerning the prevention and treatment of sports related concussions and other brain injuries to be used when it is suspected that a student athlete has sustained such an injury. To help school districts in developing these policies, the state DOE would be required to create a model policy for grades K-12 by no later than March 31, 2011.

Additionally, the bill would require that any student athlete who sustains or is suspected of sustaining such an injury during practice or play be immediately removed from the game or practice. The student would not be able to participate in any further sports activity until evaluated by a physician trained in the evaluation and management of concussions and given written permission to return to physical activity.

Finally, under the bill, each person licensed as an athletic trainer, as a condition of license renewal, would have to complete 24 hours of continuing education credits, which include specific instruction on concussions and head injuries.

Full post as published by Traumatic Brain Injury Law Blog on October 29, 2010 (boomark / email).