Amended in Senate August 15, 2016

Amended in Senate June 14, 2016

Amended in Assembly April 7, 2016

Amended in Assembly March 29, 2016

Amended in Assembly March 9, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 1639


Introduced by Assembly Member Maienschein

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonilla, Brough, and Dodd)

(Coauthors: Senators Anderson and Bates)

January 7, 2016


An act to add Article 13.5 (commencing with Section 33479) to Chapter 3 of Part 20 of Division 2 of Title 2 of the Education Code, relating to pupil safety.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1639, as amended, Maienschein. Pupil health: The Eric Paredes Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention Act.

Existing law requires a school district, charter school, or private school that elects to offer an athletic program to comply with certain requirements relating to pupil safety, including, among other things, removing an athlete who is suspected of sustaining a concussion or head injury from an athletic activity.

This bill would create the Eric Paredes Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention Act and would require the State Department of Education to post on its Internet Web site guidelines, videos, and an information sheet on sudden cardiac arrest symptoms and warning signs, and other relevant materials relating to sudden cardiac arrest. The bill would require a pupil in any public school, including a charter school, or private school that elects to conduct athletic activities, and the pupil’s parent or guardian, to sign and return an acknowledgment of receipt of an information sheet on sudden cardiac arrest symptoms and warning signs each school year before the pupil participates in an athletic activity, as specified. The bill would require an athletic director, coach,begin delete or athletic trainerend deletebegin insert athletic trainer, or authorized person, as defined,end insert to remove from participation a pupil who passes out or faints while participating in or immediately following an athletic activity, and would require a coach of an athletic activity to complete a sudden cardiac arrest training course every other school year. The bill would impose penalties, on and after July 1, 2019, for a violation of the provision requiring a coach to complete a sudden cardiac arrest training course, as specified. The bill would make the act’s provisions operative on July 1, 2017.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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SECTION 1.  

Article 13.5 (commencing with Section 33479)
2is added to Chapter 3 of Part 20 of Division 2 of Title 2 of the 3 Education Code, to read:

4 

5Article 13.5.  The Eric Paredes Sudden Cardiac Arrest
6Prevention Act
7

 

8

33479.  

This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Eric
9Paredes Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention Act.

10

33479.1.  

For purposes of this article, the following definitions
11apply:

12(a) “Athletic activity” includes all of the following:

13(1) Interscholastic athletics.

14(2) An athletic contest or competition, other than interscholastic
15athletics, that is sponsored by a school, including cheerleading and
16club-sponsored sports activities.

17(3) Noncompetitive cheerleading that is sponsored by a school.

18(4) Practices, interscholastic practices, and scrimmages for all
19of the activities listed under paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive.

begin insert

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(b) “Authorized person” means an employee, volunteer, or
2contractor authorized to provide health or medical services to
3pupil athletes.

end insert
begin delete

3 4(b)

end delete

5begin insert(c)end insert “School” means a public school, including a charter school,
6or private school that elects to conduct athletic activities.

7

33479.2.  

(a) The department shall post on its Internet Web
8site guidelines, videos, and an information sheet on sudden cardiac
9arrest symptoms and warning signs, and other relevant materials
10to inform and educate pupils and parents, and to train coaches
11about the nature and warning signs of sudden cardiac arrest,
12including the risks associated with continuing to play or practice
13after experiencing fainting or seizures during exercise, unexplained
14shortness of breath, chest pains, dizziness, racing heart rate, or
15extreme fatigue.

16(b) Materials posted by the department on its Internet Web site
17may include, but are not necessarily limited to, those developed
18or used for sudden cardiac arrest education and coaches training
19by the National Federation of High School Associations, the Eric
20Paredes Save A Life Foundation, or the California Interscholastic
21Federation.

22(c) School districts and schools are encouraged to post on their
23Internet Web sites the information and material required to be
24posted by the department pursuant to subdivision (a) to give pupils,
25parents, and coaches ready access to the information.

26

33479.3.  

Each school year, before a pupil participates in an
27athletic activity governed by the California Interscholastic
28Federation, the school shall collect and retain a copy of the sudden
29cardiac arrest information sheet required by the California
30Interscholastic Federation for that pupil. Before a pupil participates
31in an athletic activity not governed by the California Interscholastic
32Federation, the pupil and the pupil’s parent or guardian shall sign
33and return to the pupil’s school an acknowledgment of receipt and
34review of the information sheet posted on the department’s Internet
35Web site pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 33479.2.

36

33479.4.  

A school may hold an informational meeting before
37the start of each athletic season for all ages of competitors regarding
38the symptoms and warning signs of sudden cardiac arrest. In
39addition to pupils, parents, coaches, and other school officials,
40informational meetings may include physicians, pediatric
P4    1cardiologists,begin delete and athletic trainers.end deletebegin insert athletic trainers, and authorized
2persons.end insert

3

33479.5.  

(a) A pupil who passes out or faints while
4participating in or immediately following an athletic activity, or
5who is known to have passed out or fainted while participating in
6or immediately following an athletic activity, shall be removed
7from participation at that time by the athletic director, coach,begin delete or
8athletic trainer.end delete
begin insert athletic trainer, or authorized person.end insert

9(b) A pupil who exhibits any of the other symptoms of sudden
10cardiac arrest, as described in subdivision (a) of Section 33479.2,
11during an athletic activity, may be removed from participation by
12an athleticbegin delete trainer, if the athletic trainerend deletebegin insert trainer or authorized
13person if the athletic trainer or authorized personend insert
reasonably
14believes that the symptoms are cardiac related. In the absence of
15an athleticbegin delete trainer,end deletebegin insert trainer or authorized person,end insert any coach who
16observes any of the symptoms of sudden cardiac arrest shall notify
17the parent or guardian of the pupil so that the parent or guardian
18can determine what treatment, if any, the pupil should seek.

19(c) A pupil who is removed from play under this section shall
20not be permitted to return to participate in an athletic activity until
21the pupil is evaluated and cleared to return to participate in writing
22by a physician and surgeon, or a nurse practitioner or physician
23assistant practicing in accordance with standardized procedures
24or protocols developed by the supervising physician and surgeon
25and the nurse practitioner or physician assistant, as applicable.

26(d) This section does not apply to a pupil engaging in an athletic
27activity during the regular schoolday or as part of a physical
28education course required pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section
2951220 unless it constitutes a practice, interscholastic practice, or
30scrimmage pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section
31 33479.1.

32

33479.6.  

(a) A coach of an athletic activity shall complete the
33sudden cardiac arrest training course specified in Section 33479.2
34and shall retake the training course every two years thereafter.

35(b) A coach of an athletic activity shall not be eligible to coach
36an athletic activity until the coach completes the training course
37required under subdivision (a).

38

33479.7.  

On and after July 1, 2019, a coach who violates
39Section 33479.6 shall be subject to suspension from coaching any
40athletic activity until completion of the required training.

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33479.8.  

The sponsors of youth athletic activities are
2encouraged to follow the guidelines specified in this article.

3

33479.9.  

This article is operative on July 1, 2017.



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