New Virginia law requires guidelines on concussions to protect student athletes

Virginia's school board is moving forward with guidelines to protect student athletes from concussions.

The new law will require public schools to establish policies for identifying and monitoring concussions in student athletes beginning next July, before the beginning of the school year. As part of the Virginia law, the board is reviewing a set of proposed concussion guidelines that it will distribute to schools in time for next year.

Chief among them will be the requirement that a licensed health-care provider will have to evaluate and grant written authorization before a student who is diagnosed with a concussion is allowed to return to play.

Student-athletes and their parents will also be required to annually review information on concussions provided by the school system. Coaches, trainers, physicians and volunteers will receive annual training on how to identify concussions and monitor athletes who have suffered such injuries. The school systems will track training and treatment of their athletes.

Virginia was one of the first states to adopt a law. Ten states have regulations governing concussions, led by Washington, which passed the first such law in 2009. There are as many as 3.8 million sportsand recreation-related concussions in the U.S. each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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