Introduced Version
House Bill 2518 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2518
(By Delegates Perry, M. Poling and Stowers)
[Introduced February 18, 2013; referred to the
Committee on Education then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to repeal section §55-7-19 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; to amend said code by adding thereto a new
section, designated §18-2-25a; to amend and reenact §29-12-5a
of said code; and to amend and reenact §55-7-15 of said code,
all relating to establishing protocols and protections to
limit and treat injury to youth athletes and students; making
findings with respect to concussions; defining certain terms
and requiring Secondary School Activities Commission rule
addressing concussions and head injuries; specifying certain
minimum provisions of rule; requiring inclusion of volunteer
workers and student teachers under the professional and
liability coverage provided to county school boards by Board
Of Risk and Insurance Management; including licensed health
care professional within term "volunteer worker" with certain conditions and limiting civil liability; including medical
assistance rendered by licensed medical professional without
remuneration to youth athlete as equivalent to emergency care
at scene of accident or medical emergency for protection from
liability for civil damages; and including scheduled practices
within term "event."
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section §55-7-19 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be repealed; that said code be amended by adding thereto
a new section, designated §18-2-25a; that §29-12-5a of said code be
amended and reenacted; and that §55-7-15 of said code be amended
and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 18. EDUCATION.
ARTICLE 2. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-2-25a. Management of concussions and head injuries in
athletics at West Virginia Secondary School
Activities Commission member high school or middle
school.
_____(a) The Legislature finds:
_____(1) Concussions are one of the most commonly reported injuries
in children and adolescents who participate in sports and
recreational activities. The centers for disease control and prevention estimates that as many as three million nine hundred
thousand sports-related and recreation-related concussions occur in
the United States each year;
_____(2) A concussion is caused by a blow or motion to the head or
body that causes the brain to move rapidly inside the skull. The
risk of catastrophic injuries or death are significant when a
concussion or head injury is not properly evaluated and managed;
_____(3) Concussions are a type of brain injury that can range from
mild to severe and can disrupt the way the brain normally works;
_____(4) Concussions can occur in any organized or unorganized
sport or recreational activity and can result from a fall or from
players colliding with each other, the ground or with obstacles;
_____(5) Concussions occur with or without loss of consciousness,
but the vast majority occur without loss of consciousness;
_____(6) Continuing to play or practice with a concussion or
symptoms of head injury leaves the interscholastic athlete
especially vulnerable to greater injury and even death; and
_____(7) Even with generally recognized return to play and practice
standards for concussion and head injury, some affected
interscholastic athletes are prematurely returned to play or
practice resulting in actual or potential physical injury or death
to the athletes in the State of West Virginia.
_____(b) For the purposes of this section, "interscholastic athlete" means any athlete who is participating in interscholastic
athletics at a high school or middle school that is a member of the
West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission, and "licensed
health care professional" means a health care provider whose
licensed scope of practice includes the ability to diagnose and
treat an injury or disease.
_____(c) The West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission
shall promulgate rules pursuant to section twenty-five of this
article that address concussions and head injuries in
interscholastic athletes: Provided, That prior to state board
approval and notwithstanding the exemption provided in section
three, article one, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, the state
board shall submit the rule to the Legislative Oversight Commission
on Education Accountability pursuant to section nine, article
three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.
_____(d) The rules required by this section shall include, but are
not limited to, the following:
_____(1) Guidelines and other pertinent information and forms to
inform and educate appropriate school administrators, coaches,
interscholastic athletes and their parents or guardians of the
nature and risk of concussion and head injury including continuing
to play or practice after a concussion or head injury;
_____(2) A concussion and head injury information sheet that shall be signed and returned by the interscholastic athlete and the
athlete's parent or guardian on an annual basis before the
interscholastic athlete begins practice or competition;
_____(3) A requirement that each head coach of an interscholastic
sport at a high school or middle school that is a member of the
West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission complete a
commission-approved concussion and head injury recognition and
return-to-play protocol course annually;
_____(4) An interscholastic athlete who is suspected by a licensed
health care professional or by his or her head coach or athletic
trainer of sustaining a concussion or head injury in a practice or
game shall be removed from competition at that time;
_____(5) An interscholastic athlete who has been removed from play
or practice may not return to play or practice until the athlete is
evaluated by a licensed health care professional trained in the
evaluation and management of concussions and receives written
clearance to return to play and practice from the licensed health
care professional;
_____(6) A list of the respective categories of licensed health
care professionals who, if properly trained in the evaluation and
management of concussions, are authorized to provide written
clearance for the interscholastic athlete to return to play; and
_____(7) A requirement that all member schools must submit a report to the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission within
thirty days of an interscholastic athlete suffering or being
suspected of suffering a concussion or head injury in a practice or
game. The report must state whether an evaluation by a licensed
health care professional verified that a concussion or head injury
was actually suffered, whether the athlete received written
clearance to return to play or practice and, if written clearance
was given, the number of days between the incident and the actual
return to play or practice. If written clearance to return to play
is given after thirty days of the incident, a report update shall
be submitted then. The West Virginia Secondary School Activities
Commission shall compile and submit the reports to the appropriate
state and national organization or agencies to analyze and make
determinations on whether the rule required by this section or
equipment worn by interscholastic athlete needs to be amended
accordingly.
__________
CHAPTER 29. MISCELLANEOUS BOARDS AND OFFICERS.
ARTICLE 12. STATE INSURANCE.
§29-12-5a. Liability insurance for county boards of education,
their employees and members, the county
superintendent of schools, and for employees and
officers of the state Department of Corrections.
(a) In accordance with the provisions of this article, the
state Board of Risk and Insurance Management shall provide
appropriate professional or other liability insurance for all
county boards of education, teachers, supervisory and
administrative staff members, service personnel, county
superintendents of schools, and school board members, volunteer
workers and student teachers, and for all employees and officers of
the state Department of Corrections: Provided, That the board of
Risk and Insurance Management is not required to provide insurance
for every property, activity or responsibility of county boards of
education, teachers, supervisory and administrative staff members,
service personnel, county superintendents of schools, and school
board members, volunteer workers and student teachers, and for all
employees and officers of the state Department of Corrections.
(b) Insurance provided by the board of Risk and Insurance
Management pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of this
section shall cover claims, demands, actions, suits or judgments by
reason of alleged negligence or other acts resulting in bodily
injury or property damage to any person within or without any
school building or correctional institution if, at the time of the
alleged injury, the teacher, supervisor, administrator, service
personnel employee, county superintendent, school board member,
volunteer worker or student teacher, or employee or officer of the Department of Corrections was acting in the discharge of his or her
duties, within the scope of his or her office, position or
employment, under the direction of the Board of Education or
Commissioner of Corrections or in an official capacity as a county
superintendent or as a school board member or as Commissioner of
Corrections.
(c) Insurance coverage provided by the Board of Risk and
Insurance Management pursuant to subsection (a) of this section
shall be in an amount to be determined by the state Board of Risk
and Insurance Management, but in no event less than $1 million for
each occurrence. In addition, each county board of education shall
purchase, through the Board of Risk and Insurance Management,
excess coverage of at least $5 million for each occurrence. The
cost of this excess coverage will be paid by the respective county
boards of education. Any insurance purchased under this section
shall be obtained from a company licensed to do business in this
state.
(d) The insurance policy provided by the Board of Risk and
Insurance Management pursuant to subsection (a) of this section
shall include comprehensive coverage, personal injury coverage,
malpractice coverage, corporal punishment coverage, legal liability
coverage as well as a provision for the payment of the cost of
attorney's fees in connection with any claim, demand, action, suit or judgment arising from such alleged negligence or other act
resulting in bodily injury under the conditions specified in this
section.
(e) The county superintendent and other school personnel,
volunteer worker and student teacher shall be defended by the
county board or an insurer in the case of suit, unless the act or
omission shall not have been within the course or scope of
employment or official responsibility or was motivated by malicious
or criminal intent.
(f) For the purposes of this section, "volunteer worker"
includes, but is not limited to, a licensed health care
professional who renders services of a medical nature to students
under an agreement with a county board that defines the scope of
his or her duties as such and for which no remuneration is demanded
or received. A licensed health care professional is not be liable
for any civil damages as a result of rendering such services, or as
a result of any act or failure to act in providing or arranging
further medical treatment, in accordance with acceptable standards
of care, to an extent greater than the applicable limits of the
professional liability insurance provided by the state Board of
Risk and Insurance Management pursuant to this section and in
effect at the time. Nothing in this subsection nullifies the
immunity from civil liability as granted pursuant to section fifteen, article seven, chapter fifty-five of this code or federal
law except to the extent to which the actions are covered within
the applicable limits of the professional liability insurance
provided by the state Board of Risk and Insurance Management
pursuant to this section and in effect at the time.
CHAPTER 55. ACTIONS, SUITS AND ARBITRATION;
JUDICIAL SALE.
ARTICLE 7. ACTIONS FOR INJURIES.
§55-7-15. Aid to victim of accident and victim of crime; immunity
from civil liability.
No person, including a person licensed to practice medicine or
dentistry, who in good faith renders emergency care at the scene of
an accident or medical emergency or to a victim at the scene of a
crime, without remuneration, shall be is liable for any civil
damages as the result of any act or omission in rendering such
emergency care.
For the purposes of this section, "scene of an accident or
medical emergency" also includes a youth athletic event, including
a school sponsored or interscholastic athletic event, at which
assistance of a medical nature is rendered in an emergency
situation by a licensed medical professional, for which no
remuneration is demanded or received, to an athlete injured while participating in the event. For the purposes of this section,
"athletic event" includes scheduled practices.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish protocols and
protections to help limit injuries to youth athletes and students
and improve the treatment of them. In particular, the bill
emphasizes the protocols for removal and return to play following
concussions in interscholastic sports regulated by the WV Secondary
School Activities Commission.
Strike-throughs indicate existing language that would be
removed, and underscoring indicates new language that would be
added.
§18-2-25a is new; therefore, it has been completely
underscored.
This bill was recommended for introduction and passage during
the Regular Session of the Legislature by the Joint Standing
Committee on Education.