On April 7, 2011, Iowa governor Terry Brandstat signed the state's youth sports concussion safety law [1] into law. It will take effect July 1, 2011.
Key provisions of the Iowa law, the thirteenth of its kind passed by states [2] since Washington State's historic Zackery Lystedt law [3] in May 2009 (a number which has since swelled to 31 plus the District of Columbia) are as follows:
The Iowa high school athletic association and the Iowa girls high school athletic union are required to work together to distribute guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other sources to inform and educate coaches, students, and parents and guardians of students to the risk [5]s [5], signs and symptoms and behaviors consistent with concussion or brain injury [6], the danger [7] of continuing to play after sustaining a concussion, and their responsibility to report [8] such signs, symptoms, and behaviors if they occur.
Each school district and private school must provide a concussion and brain injury information sheet to a student's parent or guardian on an annual basis, which both the student and his parent or guardian must sign and return to the school prior to the student's participation in any extracurricular interscholastic activity.
Sen. Tod Bowmann (D-Maquoketa), the law's sponsor, told the Des Moines Register that the law would act as a "firewall" between any win-at-all-costs coaches, parents, or players and potentially fatal brain injuries.
While the Iowa High School Athletic Association and the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union adopted protocols in the fall of 2010 for concussions similar to those in the new law, the statute now requires medical clearance before he or she can return to participation.
Looking for more concussion information? For the most comprehensive and up-to-date information on concussions for sports parents, click here [9].
Posted April 21, 2011; revised January 2, 2012
Links:
[1] http://coolice.legis.state.ia.us/linc/84/external/SF367_Enrolled.pdf
[2] https://momsteam.com/node/3015
[3] https://momsteam.com/node/3014
[4] https://momsteam.com/node/3368
[5] https://momsteam.com/node/3289
[6] https://momsteam.com/node/149
[7] https://momsteam.com/node/208
[8] https://momsteam.com/node/2987
[9] https://momsteam.com/node/305
[10] https://momsteam.com/health-safety/every-state-has-youth-sports-concussion-safety-law