RELATING TO EDUCATION -- THE CHILDREN'S CARDIAC SAFETY ACT
Summary
H7480 creates a new chapter in Title 16 called the Children’s Cardiac Safety Act. The bill requires that annual physical examinations for children age 19 and under include a cardiovascular prescreening based on nationally recognized, evidence-based pediatric guidelines. If the screening raises concern, the healthcare professional must refer the child to a cardiologist for further evaluation and testing.
The bill also adds school-based requirements for student athletes in grades K-12. Before participating in school- or community-sponsored interscholastic or intramural sports, a student must have a physical examination within the prior 12 months and submit a statewide preparticipation physical evaluation form certified by the examining provider. The Department of Health must create a single form for use statewide, and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Department of Health must issue guidance to schools and coordinate implementation.
Impact
The bill would expand state education and public health law by imposing new cardiovascular screening and documentation requirements for pediatric annual exams and school athletics participation. It affects healthcare professionals who perform child physicals, school districts, charter schools, mayoral academies, and nonpublic schools that allow student participation in athletics. It also directs the Department of Health and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to develop forms, guidance, training, reporting, and public information materials, and it requires annual reporting on exam and referral data. The act is intended to complement Rhode Island’s existing sudden cardiac arrest prevention law and would take effect January 1, 2027.
Sentiment
Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee testimony or votes, the overall sentiment appears supportive and preventive in nature. The proposal is framed as a child safety and public health measure, emphasizing early detection of cardiac conditions, parent education, and standardized screening practices. The inclusion of professional organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association suggests an effort to ground the bill in medical consensus and best practices.
Contention
No formal committee discussion or vote history is provided, so specific opposition is not documented in the available record. Potential points of contention inherent in the bill include the added burden on healthcare providers and schools, the cost and logistics of implementing universal screening and annual reporting, and the requirement that students complete additional paperwork before sports participation. Another possible issue is the bill’s interaction with existing sudden cardiac arrest prevention requirements, although the text states that this chapter is meant to support and supersede conflicting provisions if necessary.
Requires immediate notification to the person in charge of the educational program when a child has a cardiac emergency and the head of the educational program must notify the department of education within 24 hours.
Establishes a new program where the per pupil funding, calculated annually by RIDE, would be transferred into a newly created educational funding account run by the children's scholarship fund to pay for educational expenses.
Updates the statutory terminology by replacing the phrase "institutions of higher learning" with that of "educational institutions" and redefines child daycare centers as educational institutions.
Updates the statutory terminology by replacing the phrase "institutions of higher learning" with that of "educational institutions", and would redefine child daycare centers as educational institutions.
Requires the school district of a child in the custody of the department of children, youth and families (DCYF) to pay all the educational cost of the child if the child is place in another school district.
Alters a PA’s continuing education requirements, ability to provide charitable care, and authority to clear students to return to sports after health-concern related removal and protect PA’s from certain restrictive covenants.
Replaces the existing chapter on this subject by requiring school districts to organize concussion oversight teams, develop removal-from-play, return-to-play, and return-to-learn protocols, and develop a concussion brochure.
Replaces the existing chapter on this subject by requiring school districts to organize concussion oversight teams, develop removal-from-play, return-to-play, and return-to-learn protocols, and develop a concussion brochure.