Assemblyman Charles D. Fall (D-Richmond) today participated in a press conference sponsored by the New York State Athletic Trainers’ Association (NYSATA) and the Brain Injury Association of New York (BIANYS) on his legislation (A.2564-A/S.1074-A) which intends to update school concussion management and response protocols and increases concussion data collection and reporting.

Dr. Andrew Hess, pediatric psychologist, was joined by Assemblyman Fall and Senator Brad Hoylman on legislation they co-sponsored entitled the Concussion Management Awareness Improvement Act. The current bill authorizes;

• Expand the CMAA to include every public and nonpublic school and every group or organization that uses property or facilities owned by a school district for competitive, travel youth sports.
• Require biennial education in concussion management for school coaches, physical education teachers, nurses, athletic trainers, medical directors, physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants.
• Require academic Return-to-Learn AND Return-to-Play policies.
• Require a Concussion Management Teams in all school districts.
• Identify and report the number of concussions that occur each year
• Recommend schools have an Athletic Trainer available to students.

The legislation was introduced to expand existing law that was passed in 2011 to address traumatic brain injuries (TBI’s) in New York State schools. In 2014, 4,000 children and teens – age 19 or younger – were seen in hospital Emergency Departments for sports related TBIs, including concussions. To date this figure is increasingly expanding and it is documented that more than half of the concussions that are inflicted in the school setting aren’t even reported accurately.

“Being a former collegiate basketball player, I know all to well how important it is to have safety net features put in place when it comes to school activities both on and off the field of play. I want to thank BIANYS, Senator Hoylman and the professional advocates for the continued activism on our bill. I look forward to working with my colleagues to get this legislation passed this year,” said Assemblyman Charles D. Fall