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HB0935 amends Maryland’s Education Article provisions on venue-specific emergency action plans for middle and high school athletic facilities, with a particular focus on high school football games. The bill requires school emergency plans to include, for high school football programs, the on-site presence during games of either a licensed athletic trainer or an ambulance staffed with appropriate emergency medical services personnel, and it also adds a separate football-specific requirement for policies meeting the bill’s new subsection (f). For nonpublic schools receiving State funding, the bill makes parallel changes to the emergency action plan requirements.
The bill also expands and clarifies the contents of emergency action plans generally. Schools must continue to address automated external defibrillator use, heat acclimatization, severe weather, and other emergent injuries, but the bill reinforces training and readiness requirements for coaching staff and school personnel. It also requires each middle and high school to maintain a cardiac emergency response plan, coordinate with local emergency medical services, identify response teams, and review and update that plan annually. The bill takes effect July 1, 2025.
HB0935 would amend §§ 7-451 and 7-452 of the Education Article to impose more specific safety requirements on public middle and high schools and on nonpublic middle and high schools that receive State funding. Its most notable effect is to add football-game coverage requirements for high school programs, including the presence of certain trained health care professionals or, alternatively, an ambulance staffed with EMS personnel, with a limited distance-based exception allowing an ambulance located within three driving miles at a fire, rescue, or ambulance facility to satisfy the requirement. The bill also reinforces existing obligations related to AED access, CPR and first aid training, heat illness preparedness, and cardiac emergency planning for school athletic programs.
The available legislative history shows no recorded votes or committee transcript excerpts, but the bill was reported favorably with amendments and adopted by the House on second reading, suggesting general support for the measure. The structure of the bill indicates a safety-focused approach aimed at reducing risk at school athletic events, especially football games. The favorable committee action and adoption imply that the bill was viewed positively overall, though the amendments suggest some refinement of the original requirements.
The main point of potential contention is the operational burden of requiring on-site medical coverage at high school football games, particularly for schools that may rely on volunteers, local school system employees, or nearby emergency services rather than full-time athletic medical staff. The bill’s allowance for an ambulance within three driving miles of a fire, rescue, or ambulance facility appears designed to address feasibility concerns and may reflect compromise over how strictly on-site EMS must be present. Another possible issue is the added compliance burden on nonpublic schools receiving State funding, which must also meet the expanded emergency planning requirements.