TRENTON--Bills that aim to prevent and document instances of cardiac arrest in New Jersey’s student athletes could hit the governor’s desk this week for his signature.
Senate bills S1911, known as “Children’s Sudden Cardiac Events Reporting Act,” and S1912, which requires more thorough exams for student athletes, were sparked by recommendations by a task force that studied the issue for more than a year.
Gov. Chris Christie is expected this week to sign the medical examination bill into law, which would require all public and non-public school students to undergo cardiac-specific screenings, and tweaks to be made to pre-participation forms.
Sudden heart attacks in students athletes are a phenomenon that accounts for about 100 teenage deaths nationwide every year.
The law would require health screenings to be conducted by physicians licensed and educated in the cardiac assessment of adolescents. Parents would also be required to sign forms indicating they understand cardiac risks in young people.
“The screening component is the strong point out of the gate,” said Sen. Fred Madden (D-4, of Washington), who sponsored the bills in the state Senate.
Gov. Chris Christie has just over a month to sign the second bill that would require any cardiac arrest incident — meaning a heart attack or other heart-related issue — causing death or near death to be reported to a Children’s Sudden Cardiac Events Registry, a new review board the law would establish.
“It would allow us in the future and over time to take a look at the different variables in these cases ... clusters of incidents going on,” Madden said. “It might help us locate where the educational components are lacking.”
Madden, the vice chairman of the state Senate Health Committee, established the cardiac incident task force more than two years ago.
The task force’s report listed nine recommendations to lawmakers. The bills reflect several of the individual recommendations including education for physicians and parents. Another bill could address medical insurance coverage for student athletes’ cardiac-specific medical exams.
According to Madden, the pending laws in New Jersey could be the benchmark for other states to follow.
SOURCE: NJ.com