2021 Kentucky Revised Statutes Chapter 160 - School districts 160.445 Sports safety course required for high school athletics coaches -- Training and education on symptoms, treatment, and risks of concussion -- Venue-specific emergency action plans.
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160.445 Sports safety course required for high school athletics coaches -Training and education on symptoms, treatment, and risks of concussion
-- Venue-specific emergency action plans.
(1)
(2)
(a)
The Kentucky Board of Education or organization or agency designated
by the board to manage interscholastic athletics shall require each
interscholastic coach to complete a sports safety course consisting of
training on how to prevent common injuries. The content of the course
shall include but not be limited to emergency planning, heat and cold
illnesses, emergency recognition, head injuries including concussions,
neck injuries, facial injuries, and principles of first aid. The course shall
also be focused on safety education and shall not include coaching
principles.
(b) The state board or its agency shall:
1.
Establish a minimum timeline for a coach to complete the course;
2.
Approve providers of a sports safety course;
3.
Be responsible for ensuring that an approved course is taught by
qualified professionals who shall either be athletic trainers,
registered nurses, physicians, or physician's assistants licensed to
practice in Kentucky; and
4.
Establish the minimum qualifying score for successful course
completion.
(c) A course shall be reviewed for updates at least once every thirty (30)
months and revised if needed.
(d) A course shall be able to be completed through hands-on or online
teaching methods in ten (10) clock hours or less.
(e) 1.
A course shall include an end-of-course examination with a
minimum qualifying score for successful course completion
established by the board or its agency.
2.
All coaches shall be required to take the end-of-course examination
and shall obtain at least the minimum qualifying score.
(f) Beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, and each year thereafter, at
least one (1) person who has completed the course shall be at every
interscholastic athletic practice and competition.
(a) Beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, and each year thereafter, the
state board or its agency shall require each interscholastic coach to
complete training on how to recognize the symptoms of a concussion and
how to seek proper medical treatment for a person suspected of having a
concussion. The training shall be approved by the state board or its
agency and may be included in the sports safety course required under
subsection (1)(a) of this section.
(b) The board or its agency shall develop guidelines and other pertinent
information or adopt materials produced by other agencies to inform and
educate student athletes and their parents or legal guardians of the
nature and risk of concussion and head injury, including the continuance
of play after concussion or head injury. Any required physical examination
(3)
(4)
and parental authorization shall include acknowledgement of the
education information required under this paragraph.
(c) Upon request, the board or its agency shall make available to the public
any training materials developed by the board or agency used to satisfy
the requirements of paragraph (a) of this subsection. The board or its
agency shall not be held liable for the use of any training materials so
disseminated.
(a) A student athlete suspected by an interscholastic coach, school athletic
personnel, or contest official of sustaining a concussion during an athletic
practice or competition shall be removed from play at that time and shall
not return to play prior to the ending of the practice or competition until the
athlete is evaluated to determine if a concussion has occurred. The
evaluation shall be completed by a physician or a licensed health care
provider whose scope of practice and training includes the evaluation and
management of concussions and other brain injuries. A student athlete
shall not return to play on the date of a suspected concussion absent the
required evaluation.
(b) 1.
Upon completion of the required evaluation, a coach:
a.
May return a student athlete to play if the physician or licensed
health care provider determines that no concussion has
occurred; or
b.
Shall not return a student athlete to play if the physician or
licensed health care provider determines that a concussion has
occurred.
2.
If no physician or licensed health care provider described in
paragraph (a) of this subsection is present at the practice or
competition to perform the required evaluation, a coach shall not
return a student athlete to play who is suspected of sustaining a
concussion. The student athlete shall not be allowed to participate in
any subsequent practice or athletic competition unless written
clearance from a physician is provided.
(c) A student athlete deemed to be concussed shall not return to participate
in any athletic practice or competition occurring on the day of the injury.
The injured student athlete shall not be allowed to participate in any
subsequent practice or athletic competition unless written clearance from
a physician is provided.
(a) The state board or its agency shall adopt rules governing interscholastic
athletics conducted by local boards of education to require each school
that participates in interscholastic athletics to develop a venue-specific
emergency action plan to deal with serious injuries and acute medical
conditions in which the condition of the patient may deteriorate rapidly.
The plan shall:
1.
Include a delineation of role, methods of communication, available
emergency equipment, and access to and plan for emergency
transport; and
2.
Be in writing, reviewed by the principal of the school, distributed to
(5)
all appropriate personnel, posted conspicuously at all venues, and
reviewed and rehearsed annually by all licensed athletic trainers,
first responders, coaches, school nurses, athletic directors, and
volunteers for interscholastic athletics.
(b) Each school shall submit annual written verification of the existence of a
venue-specific emergency action plan to the state board or its agency.
Each school shall maintain complete and accurate records of its compliance
with this section and shall make the records available for review by the state
board or its agency upon request.
Effective:June 29, 2017
History: Amended 2017 Ky. Acts ch. 160, sec. 1, effective June 29, 2017. -Amended 2013 Ky. Acts ch. 30, sec. 8, effective June 25, 2013. -- Amended
2012 Ky. Acts ch. 72, sec. 1, effective April 11, 2012. -- Created 2009 Ky. Acts
ch. 90, sec. 2, effective March 24, 2009.
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