18A:40-41.7 Preparticipation Physical Evaluation Form required for student-athletes; certification statement.

2. a. The board of education of a public school district and the governing board or chief school administrator of a nonpublic school shall require that prior to the participation of any student enrolled in grades six to 12 on a school-sponsored interscholastic or intramural athletic team or squad, the student shall have a physical examination using the "Preparticipation Physical Evaluation" form developed jointly by the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Sports Medicine, American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, and American Osteopathic Academy of Sports Medicine. The Preparticipation Physical Evaluation form shall include the History and Physical Examination components. The Preparticipation Physical Evaluation form shall also include a certification statement, to be signed by the licensed physician, advanced practice nurse, or physician assistant who performed the physical examination, attesting to the completion of the current professional development module developed pursuant to subsection a. of section 3 of P.L.2013, c.71 (C.18A:40-41d).

b. The physical examination required by subsection a. of this section shall be conducted within 365 days prior to the first day of official practice in an athletic season and shall be conducted by a licensed physician, advanced practice nurse, or physician assistant. Each student whose physical examination was completed more than 90 days prior to the first day of official practice in an athletic season shall provide a health history update questionnaire, completed and signed by the student's parent or guardian. The completed health history update questionnaire shall be reviewed by the school nurse and, if applicable, the school athletic trainer and shall include information as to whether, in the time period since the date of the student's last preparticipation physical examination, the student has:

(1) been advised by a licensed physician, advanced practice nurse, or physician assistant not to participate in a sport;

(2) sustained a concussion, been unconscious or lost memory from a blow to the head;

(3) broken a bone or sprained, strained, or dislocated any muscles or joints;

(4) fainted or blacked out;

(5) experienced chest pains, shortness of breath, or heart racing;

(6) had a recent history of fatigue and unusual tiredness;

(7) been hospitalized, visited an emergency room, or had a significant medical illness;

(8) started or stopped taking any over the counter or prescribed medications; or

(9) had a sudden death in the family, or whether any member of the student's family under the age of 50 has had a heart attack or heart trouble.

c. A board of education of a public school district and the governing board or chief school administrator of a nonpublic school shall not permit a student enrolled in grades six to 12 to participate on a school-sponsored interscholastic or intramural athletic team or squad unless the student has completed a Preparticipation Physical Evaluation form and, if applicable, a completed health history update questionnaire as required by subsections a. and b. of this section.

L.2013, c.71, s.2.