Heart screenings required for Texas high school athletes under bill
AUSTIN, Texas (KTRK) -- Student-athletes in Texas could be required to have heart screenings if a bill recently filed by State Representative Dan Huberty makes it into law.
House Bill 76 says that high school students participating in extracurricular athletic activities sanctioned or sponsored by the University Interscholastic League, or UIL, who are also already required to have physical exams, must have an electrocardiogram or echocardiogram.
Both are tests that could help detect heart issues.
The cardiac exams would be added to existing ones that student-athletes are already required to take.
Under the bill, the "cardiac assessments" would be required one time before the student's first year of participation at the ninth grade level or above, or if 11th grade is not the student's first year of participation, another time before the student's subsequent year of participation at the 11th grade level.
Huberty filed the bill on Nov. 12, 2018. The Texas Legislature returned to work on Tuesday.
SEE ALSO: Texas Legislature to tackle big issues this session
The bill is being pushed forward as states take action after a recent rise in sudden collapses and deaths among high school athletes across the nation. A common trait with these deaths has been with the undetected symptoms, most notably with cardiac related fatalities.
You can view the full test of the bill here.
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