[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4256 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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.''.
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