AB 2182, as amended, Mullin. School athletics: neurocognitive testing.
(1) Existing law requires a school district, charter school, or private school, if it offers an athletic program, to immediately remove an athlete from an athletic activity for the remainder of the day if the athlete is suspected of sustaining a concussion or head injury, and prohibits the athlete from returning to the athletic activity until the athlete is evaluated by a licensed health care provider, trained in the management of concussions and acting within the scope of his or her practice, and the athlete receives written clearance from the licensed health care provider to return to the athletic activity. Existing law also requires, on a yearly basis, a concussion and head injury information sheet to be signed and returned by the athlete and athlete’s parent or guardian before the athlete initiates practice or competition.
Existing law further provides that, if a licensed health care provider determines that the athlete sustained a concussion or a head injury, the athlete is required to complete a graduated return-to-play protocol of no less than 7 days in duration under the supervision of a licensed health care provider.
This bill would express legislative findings and declarations relating to concussions or traumatic injuries sustained by pupils participating in high school interscholastic athletics and the value of neurocognitive testing.
The bill would require a school district, charter school, or private school that offers an athletic program tobegin insert pay for neurocognitive testing, orend insert providebegin insert
in-houseend insert neurocognitive testing, as defined, for pupils who participate in interscholasticbegin delete athletics.end deletebegin insert athletics in any of 12 designated sports. The bill would require this neurocognitive testing to be conducted by a licensed health care provider, as specified.end insert The bill would require this testing to take place at the beginning of an athletic season before any competitions have taken place and after any headbegin delete injury.end deletebegin insert injury, and would require that this baseline neurocognitive testing be repeated at intervals not exceeding 24 months for as long as the athlete is enrolled at the school.end insert
The bill would require that the parent or guardian of each athlete participating in any of the 12 interscholastic sports listed in the bill be notified, in writing, that the results of baseline and postinjury neurocognitive testing conducted on his or her child is available to the child’s parent or guardian, or could be shared with the athlete’s physician, upon request.
end insertThe bill would require a school district, charter school, or private school that offers an athletic program to collect and maintain data on traumatic brain injuries and concussions sustained by any of its pupils during an athletic competition.begin insert The bill would require postinjury neurocognitive testing to be conducted within 72 hours of the occurrence of the injury.end insert The bill would require that this data be reported periodically to
the appropriate county office ofbegin delete educationend deletebegin insert education,end insert and would require the county office of education to compile and retain the data for summary andbegin delete analysis.end deletebegin insert analysis as it deems necessary.end insert By imposing new duties on county offices of education, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:
3(a) The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), California’s
4governing body for high school sports, requiresbegin delete thatend deletebegin insert that,end insert if it is
5suspected that a pupil has sustained a concussion or traumatic brain
6injury in an athleticbegin delete competitionend deletebegin insert competition,end insert
the pupil must be
7removed from competition immediately and required to receive
8written clearance from a physician before returning to competition.
9(b) Section 49475 of the Education Code, as it was amended
10by Assembly Bill 2127 of the 2013-14 Regular Session of the
11Legislature effective January 1, 2015, provides that a pupil athlete
12who has been diagnosed with a concussion cannot return to play
13sooner than seven days after having been evaluated and diagnosed
14by a physician.
15(c) The value of neurocognitive testing is that it establishes a
16baseline of each athlete’s normal neurocognitive functioning before
17beginning athletic activity. By establishing this baseline, an athlete
18with a suspected head injury can then be retested to help assess
19the degree of injury.
20(d) Following any kind of head injury, athletes retake the test
21and have the results judged against the baseline test. This is
22especially important when an athlete experiences numerous hits
23to the head.
Section 49475 of the Education Code is amended to
25read:
(a) If a school district, charter school, or private school
27elects to offer an athletic program, the school district, charter
28school, or private school shall comply with all of the following:
29(1) The school district, charter school, or private school to which
30this section is applicable shallbegin delete provideend deletebegin insert pay forend insert neurocognitive
31begin delete testingend deletebegin insert testing, or provide in-house neurocognitive
testing,end insert for
32pupils who participate in interscholasticbegin delete athletics. This testingend delete
33
begin insert athletics in any of the following sports:end insert
34
(A) Baseball.
35
(B) Basketball.
P4 1
(C) Cheerleading.
2
(D) Field hockey.
3
(E) Football.
4
(F) Ice hockey.
5
(G) Lacrosse.
6
(H) Rugby.
7
(I) Soccer.
8
(J) Softball.
9
(K) Volleyball.
10
(L) Wrestling.
11begin insert (2)end insertbegin insert end insertbegin insertThe neurocognitive testing required by this section shall be
12conducted by a licensed health care provider with proper training
13in, or experience with, neurocognitive testing, or both, who is able
14to interpret the results of the required testing. The baseline
15neurocognitive testingend insert shall take place at the beginning of an
16athletic season before
any competitions have taken place and after
17any headbegin delete injury.end deletebegin insert
injury, and shall be repeated at intervals not
18exceeding 24 months for as long as the athlete is enrolled at the
19school.end insert
20(2) (A) An
end delete
21begin insert(3)end insertbegin insert end insertbegin insert(A)end insertbegin insert end insertbegin insert(i)end insertbegin insert end insertbegin insertAnend insert athlete who is suspected of sustaining a
22concussion or head injury in an athletic activity shall be
23immediately removed from the athletic activity for the remainder
24of the day, and shall not be permitted to return to the athletic
25activity until he
or she is evaluated by a licensed health care
26provider. The athlete shall not be permitted to return to the athletic
27activity until he or she receives written clearance to return to the
28athletic activity from a licensed health care provider.begin delete Ifend deletebegin insert Postinjury
29neurocognitive tests shall be conducted within 72 hours of the
30occurrence of the injury.end insert
31begin insert(ii)end insertbegin insert end insertbegin insertIfend insert the licensed health care provider determines that the athlete
32sustained a concussion or a head injury, the athlete shall also
33complete a graduated return-to-play protocol of no less
than seven
34days in duration under the supervision of a licensed health care
35provider.begin delete Theend deletebegin insert In the event of an abnormal postinjury
36neurocognitive test result, follow-up neurocognitive testing may
37be conducted as the discretion of a licensed health care provider.end insert
38begin insert(iii)end insertbegin insert end insertbegin insertTheend insert California Interscholastic Federation is urged to work
39in consultation with the American Academy of Pediatrics and the
40American Medical Society for Sports Medicine to develop and
P5 1adopt rules and protocols to implement thisbegin delete paragraph.end delete
2
begin insert
subparagraph.end insert
3(B) A school district, charter school, or private school to which
4this section is applicable shall collect and maintain data on
5traumatic brain injuries and concussions sustained by any of its
6pupils during an athletic competition.begin insert This data shall include an
7overview of the baseline neurocognitive testing conducted for each
8of the sports listed in paragraph (1), and an overview of normal,
9abnormal, and followend insertbegin insertup postinjury neurocognitive tests.end insert This data
10shall be reported periodically to the appropriate county office of
11education, but the names of the injured pupils shall be kept
12confidential. The county office of
education shall compile and
13retain the data for summary andbegin delete analysis.end deletebegin insert
analysis as it deems
14necessary.end insert
15(3)
end delete
16begin insert(4)end insert On a yearly basis, a concussion and head injury information
17sheet shall be signed and returned by the athlete and the athlete’s
18parent or guardian before the athlete initiates practice or
19competition.begin insert The parent or guardian of each athlete participating
20in any of the sports listed in paragraph (1) shall also be notified,
21in writing, that the results of baseline and postinjury neurocognitive
22testing conducted on his or her child is available to the child’s
23parent or guardian
upon request. These neurocognitive testing
24results may also be shared with the athlete’s physician upon the
25request of the athlete’s parent or guardian.end insert
26(b) As used in this section, the following terms have the
27following meanings:
28(1) “Licensed health care provider” means a licensed health
29care provider who is trained in the management of concussionsbegin insert or
30other head injuriesend insert and is acting within the scope of his or her
31practice.
32(2) “Neurocognitive testing” means a comprehensive evaluation
33of a person’s cognitive status by specific neurologic domains,
34including, but not necessarily limited to, memory, attention,
35problem
solving, language,begin delete visuospacial,end deletebegin insert visuospatial,end insert processing
36speed, motor, and emotion.
37(c) This section does not apply to an athlete engaging in an
38athletic activity during the regular schoolday or as part of a physical
39education course required pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section
4051220.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
2this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
3local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
4pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
54 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
O
98