NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1979 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 986

HOUSE BILL 618

 

 

AN ACT TO PROVIDE SPORTS MEDICINE AND EMERGENCY PARAMEDICAL SERVICES, AND EMERGENCY LIFE SAVING SKILLS TO STUDENTS IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

 

Whereas, most North Carolina schools provide interscholastic athletic activities for students in the high schools; and

Whereas, the majority of these schools do not have paramedical or medical personnel responsible for preventive measures against death or serious injury to students participating in school activities; and

Whereas, deaths and serious injuries do occur to students participating in school sports activities as well as in other school activities; and

Whereas, injuries have been significantly reduced through the part-time assignment of a teacher or other qualified employee to exercise preventive measures against injury and to provide sports medicine and emergency paramedical services for injuries that do occur; and

Whereas, Resolution 73 of the 1977 Session Laws recommends first aid and life saving instructional services be made available to public school students; and

Whereas, the State Board of Education provides for in-service training for teachers or other qualified employees to be responsible for such sports medicine and emergency paramedical services; Now, therefore,

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1.  Chapter 115 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Section 115-142.4 to read as follows:

"The State Board of Education is authorized and directed to develop a comprehensive plan to train and make available to the public schools personnel who shall have major responsibility for exercising preventive measures against sports related deaths and injuries and for providing sports medicine and emergency paramedical services for injuries that occur in school related activities. The plan shall include, but is not limited to, the training, assignment of responsibilities, and appropriate additional reimbursement for individuals participating in the program.

The State Board of Education is authorized and directed to develop an implementation schedule and a program funding formula that will enable each high school to have a qualified sports medicine and emergency paramedic program by July 1, 1984.

The State Board of Education is authorized and directed to establish minimum educational standards necessary to enable individuals serving as sports medicine and emergency paramedical staff to provide such services, including first aid and emergency life saving skills, to students participating in school activities."

Sec. 2.  There is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the State Board of Education:

(a)        for fiscal year 1979-80 the sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) to be allocated to local education agencies at a rate not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00) per high school as supplemental funds to provide sports medicine and paramedical emergency life saving services as approved by the State Board of Education and ten thousand dollars ($10,000) to provide in-service educational training for the development of sports medicine and emergency paramedical skills for public school personnel as provided for in this act; and

(b)        for fiscal year 1980-81 the sum of seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) to provide allocations to local education agencies at a rate not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00) per high school as supplemental funds to provide sports medicine and paramedical emergency life saving services as approved by the State Board of Education and twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) to provide in-service and continued educational programs for the development of sports medicine and emergency paramedical skills for public school personnel.

Sec. 3.  This act shall become effective on July 1, 1979.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 8th day of June, 1979.