SB421 Summary

• Creates the "Coach Safely Act" requiring all coaches and athletics personnel working with children 14 years old or younger in high-risk youth athletic activities to complete an approved online or in-person course from the Department of Health at no cost.

• Course must cover emergency preparedness for traumatic injuries, concussions and head trauma, heat and extreme weather-related injuries, physical conditioning and training equipment usage, and heart defects leading to sudden cardiac death.

• Individuals must complete the course within 30 days of becoming engaged as coaching staff and annually thereafter on the anniversary date.

• Exempts licensed teachers with coaching endorsements, teachers completing Arkansas Activities Association and National Federation of State High School Associations programs, registered volunteers in the Arkansas Registered Volunteers Program, and licensed athletic trainers, doctors, nurses, first responders, and healthcare professionals with acute traumatic life support training.

• Provides liability defense for athletics personnel and coaches who complete the course and reasonably conform their conduct to safety techniques taught in the course; requires associations to maintain completion records; Department of Health must adopt implementing rules by January 1, 2024.