[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9698 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9698
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of
higher education to create a venue-specific heat emergency action plan.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 27, 2022
Mr. Mfume introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of
higher education to create a venue-specific heat emergency action plan.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Jordan McNair Student-Athlete Heat
Fatality Prevention Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Heat-related illnesses are serious medical conditions
that result from the body's inability to cool itself down in
extremely hot environments. Heat-related illnesses include
heatstroke, heat exhaustion, heat cramps, heat syncope, heat
rash, and muscle breakdown. When experiencing heat illness,
patients may exhibit an array of symptoms, including confusion,
slurred speech, unconsciousness, seizures, fatigue, elevated
body temperature, fainting, dizziness, or muscle pain.
(2) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported
over 700 heat-related deaths in the United States from 2004 to
2018. Heat is the leading climate-related cause of deaths, and
rising temperatures pose a serious risk to student-athletes
participating in outdoor sports.
(3) Jordan McNair, a highly accomplished high school
football player from Maryland, received scholarship offers from
many competitive university football programs. He chose to
continue his athletic and academic career at the University of
Maryland.
(4) On May 29, 2018, Jordan McNair collapsed during a
workout on the University of Maryland's football field in the
81 degrees Fahrenheit heat. McNair was suffering from
heatstroke and was unable to remain in an upright position
without assistance from his teammates and athletic trainers.
(5) Despite being a student-athlete at a well-funded
Division I university, Jordan McNair received inadequate heat-
related illness treatment once he was escorted off the field
and into the training room. Because athletic trainers were
unable to reverse McNair's core body temperature, the illness
escalated to a seizure and respiratory distress.
(6) Most medical professionals advise patients to receive
treatment within 30 minutes of initial heat illness symptoms.
Over 90 minutes passed from the time McNair displayed initial
symptoms of heatstroke to the time he finally received adequate
care from the nearest hospital.
(7) By the time Jordan McNair arrived at the hospital, his
core body temperature had reached a life-threatening
temperature of 106 degrees Fahrenheit.
(8) On June 13, 2018, two weeks after collapsing on the
football field at practice, Jordan McNair died from symptoms of
heatstroke.
(9) Two extensive external investigations of the University
of Maryland's football program concluded that the program's
athletic training staff failed to promptly intervene, diagnose,
and treat Jordan McNair's heatstroke symptoms.
(10) According to an independent medical report, University
staff failed to assess Jordan McNair's vitals, recognize and
monitor heat-related illness symptoms, provide adequate cooling
devices and respiratory aids, and generate an emergency plan to
coordinate with emergency responders.
(11) The McNair family is devoted to honoring Jordan's
legacy and founded the Jordan McNair Foundation, which provides
an educational tool to help coaches, student-athletes, and
parents identify symptoms of heatstroke and heat-related
illnesses.
(12) Heat-related illnesses and fatalities are preventable
if caught early. Medical staff, coaches, and athletes must be
knowledgeable of the warning signs for heat-related illness in
order to protect student-athletes from injury, and even death.
SEC. 3. VENUE-SPECIFIC HEAT EMERGENCY ACTION PLAN REQUIREMENT.
Section 485 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092) is
amended by inserting at the end the following new subsection:
``(n) Venue-Specific Heat Emergency Action Plan Requirement.--
``(1) In general.--Each institution of higher education
that is participating in any program under this title and that
is a member of an athletic association or athletic conference,
shall, beginning not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this subsection, develop and implement a venue-
specific heat emergency action plan for the operation and use
of automatic external defibrillators and cold water immersion
equipment.
``(2) Requirements.--A venue-specific heat emergency action
plan developed and implemented under paragraph (1), with
respect to an institution of higher education, shall--
``(A) include a symptom identification structure
and a plan for staff and emergency responders to
coordinate care for student-athletes;
``(B) be posted and visible in each--
``(i) locker room;
``(ii) athletic training facility;
``(iii) weight room; and
``(iv) outdoor sports complex and stadium;
``(C) be made available on the school's athletic
program website or public website of the institution of
higher education at the beginning of each academic
year;
``(D) be distributed to medical staff and coaching
staff; and
``(E) be rehearsed in-person every year by medical
staff, coaching staff, and student-athletes before the
start of in-person training.
``(3) Annual report.--An institution of higher education
that is subject to the requirements of paragraph (1) during a
12-month period (or during a portion of such period) ending
August 31 of a year shall submit to the Secretary and
authorizing committees a report to demonstrate compliance
during such period by not later than July 1 of the following
year.''.
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