Indiana Senator Tim Lanane helms the first, which would have require all coaches of school sports teams to undergo concussion awareness training beginning with fifth grade students. While unlikely to pass in April, Lanane said he will re-introduce the legislation again next year.

Current Indiana state law concerning concussions and head injuries applies only to high school athletes, and only head and assistant football coaches are required to be certified and get training.  Lanane’s bill would have expanded the list of covered sports to include cheerleading, rugby and more.

The second has been introduced by Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois to strengthen measures for preventing, detecting and treating student athletes who suffer concussions. With Durbin’s bill, states would be required to develop concussion safety guidelines for public schools. Guidelines include educational information about concussions on school grounds, on websites, at assemblies and more. Durbin’s bill also includes a very useful “when in doubt, sit out’ policy that would require children with suspected concussions to quit play for the day, notify parents immediately and get a written release from a health care professional before they can resume play. If States don’t comply within five years they would forfeit a percent of federal funding.

The National Federation of State High School Associations state that an estimated 140,000 students playing high school sports suffer concussions every year – and that’s not counting the 100s that likely go unreported. At certain schools only football players are subject to impact testing at the beginning of the season to obtain baseline readings.

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