[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4256 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4256
To amend section 485 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require
venue-specific heat illness emergency action plans for any institution
of higher education that is a member of an athletic association or
athletic conference, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 21, 2023
Mr. Mfume (for himself and Mr. Trone) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend section 485 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require
venue-specific heat illness emergency action plans for any institution
of higher education that is a member of an athletic association or
athletic conference, and for other purposes.
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 a serious medical condition
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 but not
limited to confusion, slurred speech, unconsciousness,
vomiting, 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
exertional heatstroke and was unable to remain in an upright
position without assistance from his teammates, medical staff,
or coaching staff.
(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 athletic training room. Because medical staff 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 exertional 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
exertional heatstroke.
(9) Two extensive external investigations of the University
of Maryland's football program concluded that the program's
medical staff failed to promptly intervene, diagnose, and treat
Jordan McNair's exertional 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 University of Maryland has taken significant steps
to prevent and treat heat-related injuries among their student
athletes, making cold water immersion tubs available at every
practice and game, installing and maintaining readily
accessible automatic defibrillators at every venue, and
increasing the training and reporting structure of athletic
trainers, among other reforms in line with the priorities of
this Act.
(12) 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.
(13) 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 ILLNESS EMERGENCY ACTION PLAN REQUIREMENTS.
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 Illness 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--
``(A) not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this subsection and in consultation with
local emergency responders, develop and implement a
venue-specific heat illness emergency action plan,
which shall include a plan for the operation and use of
automatic external defibrillators and cold water
immersion equipment; and
``(B) not later than 1 year after the date that
such a plan is first implemented, and on an annual
basis thereafter, submit to the Secretary and
authorizing committees a report that demonstrates
compliance with the requirements of this subsection
with respect to the preceding year.
``(2) Requirements.--A plan developed and implemented under
paragraph (1), with respect to an institution of higher
education, shall--
``(A) include a symptom identification structure
and a coordination of care plan for student athletes
exhibiting signs of heat illness, and be visibly posted
in each--
``(i) locker room;
``(ii) athletic training facility;
``(iii) weight room; and
``(iv) outdoor sports complex and stadium;
``(B) be made available on the athletic program
website or public website of the institution of higher
education at the beginning of each academic year;
``(C) be distributed to local emergency responders;
and
``(D) before the start of in-person training for
each academic year, be distributed to, and rehearsed in
person by all of the following individuals at the
institution of higher education:
``(i) Student athletes.
``(ii) Certified athletic trainers.
``(iii) Team physicians.
``(iv) Athletic training students.
``(v) Athletic administrators.
``(vi) Coaches.
``(vii) Institutional safety personnel.
``(viii) Legal counsel.
``(3) Recommendations.--In developing a plan under
paragraph (1), an institution of higher education shall
consider--
``(A) including guidelines by the Wet-Bulb Globe
Temperature index to assess environmental condition and
heat stress prevention for student athletes;
``(B) having a readily accessible and properly
maintained automatic external defibrillator within
three minutes of each sporting venue; and
``(C) including the locations of each automatic
external defibrillator in such plan.
``(4) Authorized adjustments.--In the case of a facility
described in paragraph (2)(A) that is undergoing a major
physical alteration that would affect the implementation of a
requirement of paragraph (2), such requirement may be adjusted
with respect to the facility.''.
<all>