NCAA Proposes Alternative CPR Rule
As part of the NCAA’s health and safety package in the current legislative cycle, the NCAA’s Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports had proposed requiring all full-time head coaches to carry a current certification in first aid, CPR, and AED use. That proposal was not adopted at the NCAA Convention in January, so it is currently in a 60-day period for the Division I membership to comment. In the meanwhile, CSMAS had offered an alternative idea as an amendment to the proposal.
Proposal 2013–17 was the original proposal and included the following intent:
To specify that each head coach and any other coach (including a strength and conditioning coach) who is employed full-time by the institution shall maintain current certification in first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automatic external defibrillator (AED) use.
That would mean every head coach, including high profile football and men’s basketball coaches, would be required to maintain current CPR, AED, and first aid certifications. This would obviously be overkill at say an FBS football practice where there are often multiple athletic trainers. Proposal 2013–17–1 is being offered as an amendment which would get to the heart of the matter:
To amend NCAA Proposal No. 2013–17 to eliminate the requirement that each head coach and any other coach (including a strength and conditioning coach) who is employed full-time by the institution shall maintain current certification in first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automatic external defibrillator (AED) use; further, to specify that an institutional staff member with current certification in first aid, CPR and AED use must be present any time a student-athlete participates in a physical countable athletically related activity.
For some nonrevenue sports and smaller athletic departments, this might mean the coaches need to be certified. For revenue sports and larger departments that have trainers at every practice, many coaches would not be required to carry the certifications.
The original proposal is probably more than is necessary but it is easier to understand and to track. Coaches would simply have to be have current certifications. The alternative in Proposal 2013–17–1 requires tracking every practice and conditioning session and ensuring that a staff member with the certifications is present.