BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 588
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 588 (Fox)
As Amended May 13, 2013
Majority vote
EDUCATION 7-0
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|Ayes:|Buchanan, Olsen, Campos, | | |
| |Chávez, Nazarian, Weber, | | |
| |Williams | | |
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| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Applies existing law relating to students who sustain, or
are suspecting of sustaining, a concussion during a school-sponsored
athletic activity to private schools and charter schools and
requires specified information be provided to athletes and the
athlete's parent or guardian regarding concussions. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Makes applicable to private schools and charter schools existing
law that requires a school district that chooses to offer an
athletic program to immediately remove an athlete who is suspected
of sustaining a concussion or head injury from the activity for
the remainder of the day and prohibits the athlete from returning
to the activity until he or she is cleared by a licensed health
care provider.
2)Makes applicable to private schools and charter schools existing
law that requires a school district that chooses to offer an
athletic program to require each athlete and each athlete's parent
or guardian to sign and return a concussion and head injury
information sheet prior to the athlete participating in practice
or competition.
3)Specifies that the concussion and head injury information sheet
contain, at minimum, information regarding concussions and their
symptoms.
4)Allows the concussion and head injury information sheet be made
available digitally (e.g. e-mail or on an Internet Web site).
FISCAL EFFECT : None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
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Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : Concussions have serious immediate and long-term effects.
A concussion is a brain injury caused by a blow to the head or body
or from hitting a hard surface, and in only 10% of cases is it
evident from loss of consciousness.
Under existing law, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF)
is a voluntary organization consisting of school and school-related
personnel with responsibility for administering interscholastic
athletic activities in secondary schools. CIF policy ensures
student athletes do not return to practice or competition until
evaluated by a healthcare professional; however this only covers
about one million students between 14-18 years old. Existing law
already widened the students to whom this policy applies by
including the three million students between 6-14 years old playing
non-CIF youth sports in public schools. This bill further extends
this policy to those students ages 6-18 participating in non-CIF
athletic programs in private schools and charter schools.
This bill also ensures that all K-12 athletes, whether attending a
private or public school, and their parents are aware of the signs
and symptoms of a concussion in order to prevent further injury.
According to the author, by specifying the content of the
information to be provided to athletes and their parent or guardian,
there will be an increased awareness of the signs and symptoms of
serious head injuries, especially for young athletes who are more
vulnerable to greater injury. This increased understanding provides
youth participating in athletics with safeguards against long-term
injuries that result from concussions and head injury, helps parents
advocate for their children when these health issues arise, and
assists parents in managing head injury outside of school.
Additionally, this bill promotes easy access to these materials by
specifying that a school may provide these materials to athletes and
their parents via e-mail and post the information on the school's
Web site.
Previous legislation : AB 1451 (Hayashi), Chapter 173, Statutes of
2012, includes a basic understanding of the signs and symptoms of
concussions and the appropriate response to concussions within the
High School Coaching Education and Training Program (HSCETP),
administered by school districts.
AB 25 (Hayashi), Chapter 465, Statutes of 2011, requires a school
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district that elects to offer athletic programs to immediately
remove from a school-sponsored athletic activity for the remainder
of the day an athlete who is suspected of sustaining a concussion or
head injury during that activity; prohibits the return of the
athlete to that activity until he or she is evaluated by, and
receives written clearance from, a licensed health care provider;
requires, on a yearly basis, a concussion and head injury
information sheet to be signed and returned by the athlete and the
athlete's parent or guardian before the athlete's initiating
practice or competition.
AB 1449 (Hayashi) of 2012 requires the Superintendent of Public
Instruction (SPI) to develop and make available a concussion and
head injury information sheet that a school district could use to
satisfy the requirements of Education Code Section 49475. This bill
died in the Assembly Education Committee.
AB 1646 (Hayashi) of 2010 held in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee suspense file, requires training for coaches to be able to
identify symptoms of head and neck injury.
AB 1647 (Hayashi) of 2010 establishes certification and training
requirements for athletic trainers. The bill also prohibits
individuals from calling themselves athletic trainers unless they
met those requirements. Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed this bill
with the following message, "This bill is similar to legislation I
have vetoed twice before in the past because there is no evidence
that regulating the use of the term "certified athletic trainer"
poses any threat to the public health and safety."
AB 1893 (Hayashi) of 2010 held in the Assembly Education Committee,
requires all high school spirit activities coaches to have valid
certification in CPR and first aid, including an understanding of
signs, symptoms, and appropriate emergency action steps regarding
potentially catastrophic injury, including, but not limited to, head
and neck injury and concussion. Pupils participating in this
activity who experience or show signs of trauma or other injury must
obtain a release from the treating provider before resuming these
activities.
AB 533 (Hayashi) of 2009 held in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee suspense file, requires training for coaches to be able to
identify symptoms of head and neck injury.
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Analysis Prepared by : Jill Rice / ED. / (916) 319-2087
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