(1) Heat-related illnesses are a serious medical 
condition that result from the body’s inability to cool 
itself down in extremely hot environments. Heat-re-
lated illnesses include heatstroke, heat exhaustion, 
heat cramps, heat syncope, heat rash, and muscle 
breakdown. When experiencing heat illness, patients 
may exhibit an array of symptoms including but not 
limited to confusion, slurred speech, unconscious-
ness, vomiting, seizures, fatigue, elevated body tem-
perature, fainting, dizziness, or muscle pain. 
(2) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention reported over 700 heat-related deaths in the 
United States from 2004 to 2018. Heat is the lead-
ing climate-related cause of deaths, and rising tem-
peratures pose a serious risk to student athletes par-
ticipating in outdoor sports. 
(3) Jordan McNair, a highly accomplished high 
school football player from Maryland, received schol-
arship offers from many competitive university foot-
ball programs. He chose to continue his athletic and 
academic career at the University of Maryland. 
(4) On May 29, 2018, Jordan McNair collapsed 
during a workout on the University of Maryland’s 
football field in the 81 degrees Fahrenheit heat. 
McNair was suffering from exertional heatstroke 
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and was unable to remain in an upright position 
without assistance from his teammates, medical 
staff, or coaching staff. 
(5) Despite being a student athlete at a well- 
funded division I university, Jordan McNair received 
inadequate heat-related illness treatment once he 
was escorted off the field and into the athletic train-
ing room. Because medical staff were unable to re-
verse McNair’s core body temperature, the illness es-
calated to a seizure and respiratory distress. 
(6) Most medical professionals advise patients 
to receive treatment within 30 minutes of initial heat 
illness symptoms. Over 90 minutes passed from the 
time McNair displayed initial symptoms of exertional 
heatstroke to the time he finally received adequate 
care from the nearest hospital. 
(7) By the time Jordan McNair arrived at the 
hospital, his core body temperature had reached a 
life-threatening temperature of 106 degrees Fahr-
enheit. 
(8) On June 13, 2018, two weeks after col-
lapsing on the football field at practice, Jordan 
McNair died from symptoms of exertional heat-
stroke. 
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(9) Two extensive external investigations of the 
University of Maryland’s football program concluded 
that the program’s medical staff failed to promptly 
intervene, diagnose, and treat Jordan McNair’s exer-
tional heatstroke symptoms. 
(10) According to an independent medical re-
port, University staff failed to assess Jordan 
McNair’s vitals, recognize and monitor heat-related 
illness symptoms, provide adequate cooling devices 
and respiratory aids, and generate an emergency 
plan to coordinate with emergency responders. 
(11) The University of Maryland has taken sig-
nificant steps to prevent and treat heat-related inju-
ries among their student athletes, making cold water 
immersion tubs available at every practice and game, 
installing and maintaining readily accessible auto-
matic defibrillators at every venue, and increasing 
the training and reporting structure of athletic 
trainers, among other reforms in line with the prior-
ities of this Act. 
(12) The McNair family is devoted to honoring 
Jordan’s legacy and founded the Jordan McNair 
Foundation, which provides an educational tool to 
help coaches, student athletes, and parents identify 
symptoms of heatstroke and heat-related illnesses. 
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(13) Heat-related illnesses and fatalities are 
preventable if caught early. Medical staff, coaches, 
and athletes must be knowledgeable of the warning 
signs for heat-related illness in order to protect stu-
dent athletes from injury, and even death. 
SEC. 3. VENUE-SPECIFIC HEAT ILLNESS EMERGENCY AC-
TION PLAN REQUIREMENTS. 
Section 485 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1092) is amended by inserting at the end the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(n) VENUE-SPECIFIC HEAT ILLNESS EMERGENCY 
ACTION PLAN REQUIREMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each institution of higher 
education that is participating in any program under 
this title and that is a member of an athletic asso-
ciation or athletic conference, shall— 
‘‘(A) not later than 1 year after the date 
of the enactment of this subsection and in con-
sultation with local emergency responders, de-
velop and implement a venue-specific heat ill-
ness emergency action plan, which shall include 
a plan for the operation and use of automatic 
external defibrillators and cold water immersion 
equipment; and 
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‘‘(B) not later than 1 year after the date 
that such a plan is first implemented, and on 
an annual basis thereafter, submit to the Sec-
retary and authorizing committees a report that 
demonstrates compliance with the requirements 
of this subsection with respect to the preceding 
year. 
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—A plan developed and 
implemented under paragraph (1), with respect to 
an institution of higher education, shall— 
‘‘(A) include a symptom identification 
structure and a coordination of care plan for 
student athletes exhibiting signs of heat illness, 
and be visibly posted in each— 
‘‘(i) locker room; 
‘‘(ii) athletic training facility; 
‘‘(iii) weight room; and 
‘‘(iv) outdoor sports complex and sta-
dium; 
‘‘(B) be made available on the athletic pro-
gram website or public website of the institution 
of higher education at the beginning of each 
academic year; 
‘‘(C) be distributed to local emergency re-
sponders; and 
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