O F F I C E O F L E G I S L A T I V E R E S E A R C H
P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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PA 21-87—HB 6492
Public Health Committee
Appropriations Committee
AN ACT CONCERNING ED UCATION AND TRAINING IN
EXERTIONAL HEAT ILLN ESS FOR COACHES, PAR ENTS,
GUARDIANS AND STUDEN TS
SUMMARY: This act requires any person with a State Board of Education
(SBE) coaching permit who coaches intramural or interscholastic athletics to
complete an exertional heat illness awareness education program. They must do
this before beginning their coaching assignment for the season and then review
the program annually before the start of each coaching season. It authorizes SBE
to revoke the permits of coaches who do not comply with the requirement, which
begins in the 2022-23 school year.
The education program must be developed or approved by January 1, 2022, by
the intramural and interscholastic athletics governing authority, which is the
Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC), in consultation with
specified organizations. SBE must then publish the plan on its website.
In addition to the program, CIAC must also develop for school board use:
1. review materials on current and relevant exertional heat illness
information annually, starting by October 1, 2022, and
2. a model exertional heat illness awareness plan, by January 1, 2022.
The act also requires school boards to implement the model plan using written
materials, videos, or online or in-person training. Starting with the 2022-23 school
year, the act requires school boards to prohibit a student athlete from participating
in intramural or interscholastic athletics unless the student and his or her parent or
guardian reads or views the training materials or attends an in-person training.
The parent or guardian must sign an athletic participation informed consent form
issued by the school board that acknowledges compliance with the requirement.
Under the act, an “exertional heat illness” means an illness resulting from
engaging in physical activity in the heat, including heat cramps, heat syncope
(i.e., sudden dizziness, feeling faint, and fainting), heat exhaustion, and heat
stroke (i.e., neuropsychiatric impairment and a high body temperature, typically
105.8 degrees or higher).
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2021
EXERTIONAL HEAT ILLN ESS AWARENESS EDUCAT ION PROGRAM
AND MODEL PLAN
Program Development and Content
Under the act, CIAC must develop or approve the exertional heat awareness O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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education program by January 1, 2022, in consultation with specified
organizations, one each of which must represent: (1) licensed athletic trainers, (2)
sports medicine doctors, (3) researchers of best practices in managing heat illness,
and (4) county medical associations.
The program content must include:
1. recognizing the symptoms of an exertional heat illness;
2. how to obtain proper medical treatment for a person suspected of having
the illness;
3. the nature and risk of exertional heat illness, including the danger of
continuing athletic activity after sustaining this illness; and
4. the proper method of allowing a student athlete who has sustained the
illness to return to athletic activity.
Model Plan Content
The act also requires these entities to develop a model exertional heat illness
awareness plan by January 1, 2022. The model plan must include the same
components as the program above, as well as best practices in preventing and
treating exertional heat illness.