Bill Text: CA AB1639 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Pupil health: The Eric Paredes Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2016-09-29 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 792, Statutes of 2016. [AB1639 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB1639-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1639 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 792
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 29, 2016
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 29, 2016
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 18, 2016
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 23, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 15, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 14, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 7, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 9, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Maienschein
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonilla, Brough, and Dodd)
(Coauthors: Senators Anderson and Bates)
JANUARY 7, 2016
An act to add Article 13.5 (commencing with Section 33479) to
Chapter 3 of Part 20 of Division 2 of Title 2 of the Education Code,
relating to pupil safety.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1639, Maienschein. Pupil health: The Eric Paredes Sudden
Cardiac Arrest Prevention Act.
Existing law requires a school district, charter school, or
private school that elects to offer an athletic program to comply
with certain requirements relating to pupil safety, including, among
other things, removing an athlete who is suspected of sustaining a
concussion or head injury from an athletic activity.
This bill would create the Eric Paredes Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Prevention Act and would require the State Department of Education to
post on its Internet Web site guidelines, videos, and an information
sheet on sudden cardiac arrest symptoms and warning signs, and other
relevant materials relating to sudden cardiac arrest. The bill would
require a pupil in any public school, including a charter school, or
private school that elects to conduct athletic activities, and the
pupil's parent or guardian, to sign and return an acknowledgment of
receipt of an information sheet on sudden cardiac arrest symptoms and
warning signs each school year before the pupil participates in an
athletic activity, as specified. The bill would require an athletic
director, coach, athletic trainer, or authorized person, as defined,
to remove from participation a pupil who passes out or faints while
participating in or immediately following an athletic activity, and
would require a coach of an athletic activity to complete a sudden
cardiac arrest training course every other school year. The bill
would impose penalties, on and after July 1, 2019, for a violation of
the provision requiring a coach to complete a sudden cardiac arrest
training course, as specified. The bill would make the act's
provisions operative on July 1, 2017.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 13.5 (commencing with Section 33479) is added
to Chapter 3 of Part 20 of Division 2 of Title 2 of the Education
Code, to read:
Article 13.5. The Eric Paredes Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Prevention Act
33479. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Eric
Paredes Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention Act.
33479.1. For purposes of this article, the following definitions
apply:
(a) "Athletic activity" includes all of the following:
(1) Interscholastic athletics.
(2) An athletic contest or competition, other than interscholastic
athletics, that is sponsored by a school, including cheerleading and
club-sponsored sports activities.
(3) Noncompetitive cheerleading that is sponsored by a school.
(4) Practices, interscholastic practices, and scrimmages for all
of the activities listed under paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive.
(b) "Authorized person" means an employee, volunteer, or
contractor authorized to provide health or medical services to pupil
athletes.
(c) "School" means a public school, including a charter school, or
private school that elects to conduct athletic activities.
33479.2. (a) The department shall post on its Internet Web site
guidelines, videos, and an information sheet on sudden cardiac arrest
symptoms and warning signs, and other relevant materials to inform
and educate pupils and parents, and to train coaches about the nature
and warning signs of sudden cardiac arrest, including the risks
associated with continuing to play or practice after experiencing
fainting or seizures during exercise, unexplained shortness of
breath, chest pains, dizziness, racing heart rate, or extreme
fatigue.
(b) Materials posted by the department on its Internet Web site
may include, but are not necessarily limited to, those developed or
used for sudden cardiac arrest education and coaches training by the
National Federation of High School Associations, the Eric Paredes
Save A Life Foundation, or the California Interscholastic Federation.
(c) School districts and schools are encouraged to post on their
Internet Web sites the information and material required to be posted
by the department pursuant to subdivision (a) to give pupils,
parents, and coaches ready access to the information.
33479.3. Each school year, before a pupil participates in an
athletic activity governed by the California Interscholastic
Federation, the school shall collect and retain a copy of the sudden
cardiac arrest information sheet required by the California
Interscholastic Federation for that pupil. Before a pupil
participates in an athletic activity not governed by the California
Interscholastic Federation, the pupil and the pupil's parent or
guardian shall sign and return to the pupil's school an
acknowledgment of receipt and review of the information sheet posted
on the department's Internet Web site pursuant to subdivision (a) of
Section 33479.2.
33479.4. A school may hold an informational meeting before the
start of each athletic season for all ages of competitors regarding
the symptoms and warning signs of sudden cardiac arrest. In addition
to pupils, parents, coaches, and other school officials,
informational meetings may include physicians, pediatric
cardiologists, athletic trainers, and authorized persons.
33479.5. (a) A pupil who passes out or faints while participating
in or immediately following an athletic activity, or who is known to
have passed out or fainted while participating in or immediately
following an athletic activity, shall be removed from participation
at that time by the athletic director, coach, athletic trainer, or
authorized person.
(b) A pupil who exhibits any of the other symptoms of sudden
cardiac arrest, as described in subdivision (a) of Section 33479.2,
during an athletic activity, may be removed from participation by an
athletic trainer or authorized person if the athletic trainer or
authorized person reasonably believes that the symptoms are cardiac
related. In the absence of an athletic trainer or authorized person,
any coach who observes any of the symptoms of sudden cardiac arrest
shall notify the parent or guardian of the pupil so that the parent
or guardian can determine what treatment, if any, the pupil should
seek.
(c) A pupil who is removed from play under this section shall not
be permitted to return to participate in an athletic activity until
the pupil is evaluated and cleared to return to participate in
writing by a physician and surgeon, or a nurse practitioner or
physician assistant practicing in accordance with standardized
procedures or protocols developed by the supervising physician and
surgeon and the nurse practitioner or physician assistant, as
applicable.
(d) This section does not apply to a pupil engaging in an athletic
activity during the regular schoolday or as part of a physical
education course required pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section
51220 unless it constitutes a practice, interscholastic practice, or
scrimmage pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section
33479.1.
33479.6. (a) A coach of an athletic activity shall complete the
sudden cardiac arrest training course specified in Section 33479.2
and shall retake the training course every two years thereafter.
(b) A coach of an athletic activity shall not be eligible to coach
an athletic activity until the coach completes the training course
required under subdivision (a).
33479.7. On and after July 1, 2019, a coach who violates Section
33479.6 shall be subject to suspension from coaching any athletic
activity until completion of the required training.
33479.8. The sponsors of youth athletic activities are encouraged
to follow the guidelines specified in this article.
33479.9. This article is operative on July 1, 2017.
