Dear Constituent,

This week, I introduced the Jordan McNair Student Athlete Heat Fatality Prevention Act in the United States House of Representatives. This legislation can serve as a lifeline for student athletes and requires college athletic programs to create, implement, and rehearse specific heat illness emergency action plans (EAPs) in consultation with local emergency responders, including the operation and use of cold-water immersion equipment in order to avoid heat-related illnesses and fatalities. 

This legislation honors Jordan McNair, who was a freshman on the University of Maryland football team when he collapsed of a heatstroke during practice on May 29, 2018. Roughly 90 minutes passed before McNair arrived at a nearby hospital in critical condition. He was airlifted to the University of Maryland Medical Center Shock Trauma Center to receive an emergency liver transplant, but unfortunately died 2 weeks later. Senator Ben Cardin introduced the companion legislation in the United States Senate with Senator Chris Van Hollen signing on as an original cosponsor.

An investigation conducted immediately after Jordan McNair's death concluded the college’s athletic staff did not take aggressive measures to lower his body temperature. 

The Jordan McNair Student Athlete Heat Fatality Prevention Act will ensure college athletic programs have heat emergency plans in action as well as cold-water immersion equipment so preventable tragedies like Jordan's story, the story of Marques Meadow, and the stories of so many other student athletes won't happen again. The legislation is endorsed by The Jordan McNair Foundation and the National Athletic Trainers Association. 

More Information on Jordan McNair

• Jordan McNair was a freshman offensive lineman on the University of Maryland's football team in 2018. On May 29, 2018, McNair was taking a conditioning test that required 10 sets of 110-yard sprints. McNair appeared to show signs of exhaustion during the sets of sprints. McNair collapsed and was taken to the hospital before passing two weeks later due to exertional heatstroke.
  
  
• McNair was demonstrating signs of an exertional heatstroke before he completed the sprints, but was not treated with the care required to save his life. An hour passed before a trainer called 911, even after he initially started showing symptoms.
  
  
• Dr. Rod Walters, a former college athletic trainer and a sports medicine consultant, led an investigation launched by the university. He concluded there was roughly 1 hour, 39 minutes between when McNair collapsed and the departure of his ambulance from campus.
  
  
• The University of Maryland has taken subsequent steps to prevent and treat heat-related injuries among their student athletes: making cold water immersion tubs available at every practice and game, installing and maintaining readily accessible automatic defibrillators in every venue, increasing the number of doctors and trainers at practices and games, providing more recovery breaks, and increasing the training and reporting structure of athletic trainers, among other reforms in line with the priorities of this legislation.

More Information on the Jordan McNair Student Athlete Heat Fatality Prevention Act

• The bill requires institutions of higher education participating in an athletic association or athletic conference to develop, implement, distribute, and rehearse venue-specific heat illness emergency action plans (EAP) prior to in-person practice annually.
  
  
• Additionally, the EAP must be developed in consultation with local emergency responders and must include a plan for the operation and use of automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) and cold water immersion equipment.
  
  
• Additionally, the measure:
  
  
  • Requires the heat illness EAP to be made available on the University athletic program’s website and shared with local emergency responders;
  • Requires the physical posting of a symptom identification structure and a coordination of care plan for student athletes exhibiting signs of heat illness on locker rooms, athletic training facilities, weight rooms, outdoor sports complexes and stadiums;
  • Requires institutions of higher education to submit a report to the Secretary of Education demonstrating compliance;
  • Recommends AED best practice mechanisms for the location of AEDs;
  • Recommends guidelines formulated by the Wet-Bulb Globe Temperature index; and
  • Authorizes adjustments to the heat illness EAP in light of any construction that may affect implementation.

Thank you for taking the time to read this information in hopes that tragedies like these will never happen again.

Sincerely,

Kweisi Mfume
Member of Congress