Under the law:
• Each school year, students and par- ents must sign a form that explains concussion prevention, symptoms, treatment, and oversight and that in- cludes guidelines for safely resuming participation in athletics after a con- cussion. UIL must approve the form.
• School districts must create concus- sion oversight teams with at least one physician member and, if at all practi- cal, one or more athletic trainer, ad- vanced practice nurse, neuropsychol- ogist, or physician assistant. Members must be trained in evaluating, treat- ing, and overseeing concussions.
• The concussion oversight team must establish a return-to-play protocol.
• The school district superintendent is responsible for ensuring that the ath- letic trainer complies with the return- to-play protocol.
• A physician on a concussion over- sight team shall to the greatest extend practicable take an appropriate con- tinuing medical education course on concussions.
C. Mark Chassay, MD, MBA, a mem-
ber of the UIL Medical Advisory Commit- tee and the TMA concussion committee, says physicians can be part of a school’s oversight team by letting the district know they’re interested.
“Each team and district will need phy- sicians well educated and trained in con- cussion issues to help with evaluations of students on the field in addition to follow-up in their medical practices on athletes’ progress,” he said. Natasha’s Law also addresses return to play and requires a student to be re- moved immediately from play if a coach, physician, advanced practice nurse, ath- letic trainer, neuropsychologist, physi- cian assistant, or the student’s parent suspects a concussion. The student can- not practice or compete again until:
• He or she has been evaluated, using established medical protocol based on peer-reviewed scientific evidence, by a treating physician chosen by the student or the student’s parent;
• He or she has successfully completed
each requirement of the return-to- play protocol established by the con- cussion oversight team;
• The treating physician has provided a written statement indicating that, in his or her professional judgment, it is safe for the student to return to play; and
• The student and the student’s parent
acknowledge that the student has completed the requirements of the return-to-play protocol.
Education is a big component of the
new law. The statute provides that UIL will approve at least two hours of train- ing on concussions, including evaluation, prevention, symptoms, risks, and long-
Legislature tackles helmet safety
A new law now sets standards on ensuring periodic inspection of football helmets and elimination of worn-out helmets. House Bill 675 by Rep. Eddie Lucio III (D-Brownsville) and spon-
sored by Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. (D-Brownsville) prohibits school dis- tricts from using football helmets 16 years or older. Under the new law, which took effect Sept. 1, school districts must ensure that each helmet 10 years or older is reconditioned at least once every two years.
School districts also must maintain and make available to parents documentation indicating the age of each football helmet and the dates on which each helmet is reconditioned. HB 675 authorizes the University Interscholastic League (UIL) to adopt rules necessary to implement the law. In a statement of intent by Representative Lucio and Senator
Lucio, they wrote, “Football helmets are the first line of defense in preventing head injuries among Texas high school athletes, and many of them are several years old as they have been passed down from one year to the next.” They explained that UIL didn’t have any rules regarding the age of a helmet or how often it had to be reconditioned. Jason Terk, MD, chair of the Texas Medical Association Council on
Science and Public Health and a member of the TMA Ad Hoc Com- mittee on Student Athlete Concussions, says the new laws on pre- vention, treatment, and oversight of concussions, as well as football helmet safety requirements, will benefit student athletes in Texas public schools in many ways. “We now have a statewide roadmap, which was crafted with the input of expertise from a TMA task force, for care of the student athlete who suffers a concussion. From what care is needed at the moment of injury, through the point of deciding when it is appro- priate to return that athlete to participation, the new law puts the safety of the student athlete first,” he said.
September 2011 TEXAS MEDICINE 39
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