FILE:  IDFAB

Cf:  IDE, IDFA, IDFAA

 

SPORTS INJURY MANAGEMENT AND CONCUSSIONS

 

 

COMPREHENSIVE SPORTS INJURY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

 

The Acadia Parish School Board shall require each high school that sponsors or sanctions any athletic activity and which requires a participating student to regularly practice or train and compete to implement a sports injury management program.  The injury management program shall:

 

  1. Establish comprehensive emergency action plan for each sport located on the school’s campus.

 

  1. The emergency action plan shall be reviewed annually prior to each sport season with all appropriate personnel who are designated by the athletic director's office.

  2. The comprehensive emergency action plan shall follow the best practices of the American College of Sports Medicine and the National Athletic Trainers' Association.

 

  1. Require that any coach, game official, on-field licensed health care provider, or licensed athletic trainer remove a student from practice, training, or competition if any of the following circumstances occur:

 

  1. The student reports any defined sign or symptom of a serious sports injury.

  2. The coach or licensed athletic trainer determines that the student exhibits any defined sign or symptom of a serious sports injury.

  3. The coach is notified that the student has reported or exhibited any defined sign or symptom of a serious sports injury by any of the following persons:

 

  1. A licensed, registered, or certified medical practitioner operating within their respective scope of practice.

  2. A licensed athletic trainer.

  3. Any other licensed, registered, or certified individual whose scope of practice includes the recognition of symptoms associated with serious sports injuries.

  4. An official responsible for judging or supervising the athletic competition.

 

  1. Ensure that any student who, in accordance with statutory provisions is safely removed from practice, training, or competition:

 

  1. Shall, as soon as practicable after reporting or exhibiting any sign or symptom of a serious sports injury, be examined by a health professional duly licensed in Louisiana to provide health care services or medical treatment.

  2. May be allowed to return to practice, training, or competition only after the student provides to the coach and a licensed athletic trainer written authorization from a health professional duly licensed in Louisiana to provide health care services or medical treatment.

 

  1. Require that for the purpose of serving the students, school, community, and protecting public safety, each coach certified by the Coaches Education and Certification Program receive annual documented training regarding the nature and risks of serious sports injuries in accordance with the National High School Coaches Association and the Louisiana High School Coaches Association.

  2. Subject to availability of financial resources and supply of the necessary workforce, rely to the greatest possible extent on athletic trainers licensed by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners to provide athletic health care at high school athletic competitions.

  3. Require that each school participating in interscholastic athletics, follow best practices for any activity that does not occur in a climate-controlled facility.  These practices shall follow the modified guidelines of the American College of Sports Medicine and the National Athletic Trainers' Association regarding the heat acclimatization and wet bulb globe temperature policy.  These policies shall occur on all school campuses where summer conditioning, pre-season practices or games, or fall or spring sports take place, or when a coach is present.

    Heat acclimatization means a series of changes or adaptations that occur in response to heat stress in a controlled environment over the course of seven to fourteen days. These adaptations are beneficial to exercise in the heat and allow the body to cope with heat stress.

    Wet bulb temperature globe means a measure of the heat stress in direct sunlight which takes into account temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun angle, and solar radiation.

  4. Include a protocol for licensed athletic trainers, if utilized by the school or school system, to be available for practices or games to assist in the management of emergency and nonemergency care for participants.

 

The school shall ensure that before a student is allowed to participate in any school-sponsored or school-sanctioned athletic activity, the student and the parent or guardian of the student shall document that they have viewed information provided in written or verifiable electronic form by the school or school district, regarding risks of serious sports injuries.

 

The sports injury protocols outlined above do not apply to concussions, the protocols of which are outlined below, in accordance with the Louisiana Youth Concussion Act of 2011, La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§40:1089.1-40:1089.5.

 

CONCUSSIONS

 

Prior to beginning of each athletic season, the School Board shall provide pertinent information to all coaches, officials, volunteers, youth athletes, and their parents or legal guardian which informs of the nature and risk of concussion and head injury, including the risks associated with continuing to play after a concussion or head injury.  Each youth athlete and his or her parents or legal guardian shall be required to sign a concussion and head injury information sheet which provides adequate notice of the statutory requirements which must be satisfied in order for an athlete who has or is suspected to have suffered a concussion or head injury to return to play.

 

Each coach, whether such coach is employed or a volunteer, and every official of a youth athletic activity that involves interscholastic play shall be required to complete an annual concussion recognition education course which is in accordance with the statutes.

 

Removal from and Return to Play

 

A coach who is required to complete concussion recognition education shall immediately remove any youth athlete from a game, competition, or practice if any of the following occurs:

 

  1. The youth athlete reports any defined sign or symptom of a concussion and is reasonably suspected of having sustained a concussion.

  2. The coach, athletic trainer, or official determines that the youth athlete exhibits any defined sign or symptom of a concussion and he/she reasonably suspects that the youth athlete has sustained a concussion.

  3. The coach or official is notified that the youth athlete has reported or exhibited any defined sign or symptom of a concussion and is reasonably suspected of sustaining a concussion by any of the following persons:

 

  1. A licensed, registered, or certified medical health care provider operating within their respective scope of practice.  The medical health care provider performing an evaluation upon a youth athlete suspected of sustaining a concussion or brain injury may be a volunteer.

  2. Any other licensed, registered, or certified individual whose scope of practice includes the recognition of concussion symptoms.  The individual performing an evaluation upon a youth athlete suspected of sustaining a concussion or brain injury may be a volunteer.

 

If a youth athlete is removed from play and the signs and symptoms cannot be readily explained by a condition other than concussion, the coach shall notify the athlete's parent or legal guardian and shall not permit the youth athlete to return to play or participate in any supervised team activities involving physical exertion, including games, competitions, or practices, until the youth athlete is evaluated by a health care provider and receives written clearance from the health care provider for a full or graduated return to play.

 

After a youth athlete who has sustained a concussion or head injury has been evaluated and received clearance for a graduated return to play from a health care provider, an organization or association of which a school or school district is a member, a public school, or an athletic league may allow a licensed athletic trainer with specific knowledge of the athlete's condition to manage the athlete's graduated return to play.

 

New policy:  December 9, 2013

Revised:  June, 2014

Revised:  November 2, 2020

 

 

Ref:    La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§40:1087.1, 40:1089.1, 40:1089.2, 40:1089.3, 40:1089.4, 40:1089.5

Board minutes, 12-9-13, 11-2-20

 

Acadia Parish School Board