On May 31, 2011, Governor Pete Shumlin signed Vermont's youth sports concussion safety bill (S. 100 ) into law.
Key provisions:
- Covers public and private school athletes at both elementary and secondary (middle and high school) levels
- Requires state commissioner of education to develop guidelines and educational materials explaining nature and risk of concussions, including risks associated with premature return to sports after concussion, and importantance of medical evaluation of suspected concussion
- Requires parents/guardians and student-athletes to sign concussion information forms on an annual basis prior to participation in interscholastic sports
- Requires coaches to receive concussion training no less than every two years, and for new coaches to receive such training before beginning coaching.
- Requires a youth athlete to be cleared by a licensed health care professional
trained in the evaluation and management of concussions before returning
to play or practice.
Weak law
Because the new Vermont law does not, unlike laws modeled on the Zackery Lystedt law enacted in Washington State in May 2009 and in twenty other states, require the removal of athletes from games or practices if they are suspected to have suffered a concussion, it is considered a weak concussion law.
Posted June 17, 2011
Teaser title:
Youth Sports Concussion Safety Laws: Vermont
Teaser text:
The Vermont law, signed by Governor Pete Shumlin, on May 31, 2011, includes only two of the three components considered essential (inform and educate coaches, youth athletes and their parents/guardians
about the nature and risk of concussions and require them to sign a
concussion information form; and require a youth athlete to be
cleared by a licensed health care professional trained in the evaluation
and management of concussions before returning to play or practice) and not the third (requiring the immediate removal of athletes from games or practices if they are suspected to have suffered a concussion), it is considered a "weak" youth sports concussion safety law.