Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 105 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH › Title 105 CMR 201.000 - Head Injuries And Concussions In Extracurricular Athletic Activities › Section 201.005 - Definitions

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
As used in
				105 CMR 201.000, unless the
				context clearly requires otherwise, the following words shall have the
				following meanings:
Athlete
means a student who prepares
				for or participates in an extracurricular athletic activity.
Athletic Director
means an individual
				employed by a school district or school and responsible for administering the
				athletic program or programs of a school. The term Athletic Director refers to
				the Director and Assistant Directors. For schools that do not employ an
				Athletic Director, the term Athletic Director refers to the individual
				designated to be responsible for administering the athletic program or programs
				of a school.
Centers for Disease Control and
				Prevention
refers to one of the major agencies of the United
				States Department of Health and Human Services with a mission to protect the
				health of people and communities through health promotion, prevention of
				disease, injury and disability.
Coach
means an employee or volunteer
				responsible for organizing and supervising student athletes to teach them the
				fundamental skills of extracurricular athletic activities. The term coach
				refers to both head coaches and assistant coaches.
Commissioner
means the Commissioner of
				the Department of Public Health or his or her designee.
Concussion
means a complex disturbance
				in brain function, due to direct or indirect trauma to the head, related to
				neurometabolic dysfunction, rather than structural injury.
Department
means the Department of
				Public Health.
Diagnosed
means a physician's,
				physician assistant's or nurse practitioner's opinion, derived from
				observation, examination, and evaluation of procedures or tests of a patient,
				that the patient has or had a concussion.
Extracurricular Athletic Activity
means an organized school sponsored athletic activity generally occurring
				outside of school instructional hours under the direction of a coach, athletic
				director or band leader including but not limited to Alpine and Nordic skiing
				and snowboarding, baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country track,
				fencing, field hockey, football, golf, gymnastics, horseback riding, ice
				hockey, lacrosse, marching band, rifle, rugby, soccer, skating, softball,
				squash, swimming and diving, tennis, track (indoor and outdoor), ultimate
				frisbee, volleyball, water polo, and wrestling. All interscholastic athletics
				are deemed to be extracurricular athletic activities.
Game Official
means a person who
				officiates at an extracurricular athletic activity, such as a referee or umpire
				including but not limited to persons enrolled as game officials in
				Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.
Head Injury
means direct blow to the
				head or indirect trauma to the head including a concussion or traumatic brain
				injury. Scalp or facial laceration alone is not a head injury for purposes of
				105 CMR 201.000.
Licensed Athletic Trainer
means any
				person who is licensed by the Board of Registration in Allied Health
				Professions in accordance with M.G.L. c. 112, § 23A and
				259 CMR
				4.00:
Athletic Trainers
as a
				professional athletic trainer and whose practice includes schools and
				extracurricular athletic activities. Pursuant to M.G.L. c. 112, § 23A, the
				licensed athletic trainer practices under the direction of a physician duly
				registered in the Commonwealth.
Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association
				(MIAA)
is a private, non-profit association organized by its
				member schools, public and private, to govern, coordinate and promote athletic
				activities in 33 or more sports for high school students.
MIAA Member Schools
means all schools,
				whether public or private, that participate in interscholastic athletics under
				the auspices and rules of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic
				Association.
Neuropsychologist
means a professional
				who is licensed as a psychologist and certified as a health service provider by
				the Board of Registration of Psychologists pursuant to M.G.L. c. 112,
				§§ 118 through 129A with additional specialized training and
				expertise in the applied science of brain-behavior relationships and who has
				specific experience in evaluating neurocognitive, behavioral and psychological
				conditions and their relationship to central nervous system functioning. The
				neuropsychologist has specialized experience in administering and interpreting
				neuropsychological tests and has duties which may include, but are not limited
				to pre-injury measurement of the cognitive abilities that may be disturbed by a
				concussion, testing within the first few days post-head injury, and periodic
				retesting to track resolution of the student's symptoms and improvement in
				cognitive functioning. The neuropsychologist may also advise school staff
				regarding the student's need for post injury academic accommodations.
Nurse Practitioner
means a duly
				licensed and registered nurse authorized to practice in an expanded role as a
				nurse practitioner whose professional activities include performing physical
				examinations, diagnosing health and developmental problems, managing
				therapeutic regimens, and ordering therapies and tests.
Parent
means the parent or guardian or
				foster parent of a student.
Physician
means a duly licensed doctor
				of medicine or osteopathy.
Physician Assistant
means a duly
				licensed and registered physician assistant who meets the requirements for
				registration as set forth in M.G.L. c. 112, § 9I.
Play
means a practice or
				competition.
School
means a single school that
				operates under the direct administration of a principal, head master, director
				or school leader appointed by a school district, or a charter school board or
				independent school board of trustees. School includes a public school operated
				by a municipal or regional school district, an education collaborative
				established under M.G.L. c. 40, § 4E, or a school granted a charter by the
				Board of Elementary and Secondary Education under M.G.L. c. 71, § 89 and
				603 CMR
				1.00:
Charter Schools
and operated by
				a board of trustees including Commonwealth and Horace Mann charter schools.
				School includes, but is not limited to, public and other schools that are
				members of MIAA. The term does not include associations of home-schooled
				students.
School-based Equivalent
means a form
				or format that a school district or school develops in
lieu
of
				Department of Public Health forms, which at minimum include all of the
				information required by the most current Department form posted on the
				Department's website.
School District
means a municipal
				school department or regional school district, acting through its school
				committee or superintendent of schools; a county agricultural school, acting
				through its board of trustees or superintendent director; a charter school,
				acting through its board of trustees or school leader; an educational
				collaborative; or any other public school established by statute or charter,
				acting through its governing board.
School Nurse
means a nurse practicing
				in a school setting who is licensed to practice as a Registered Nurse by the
				Board of Registration in Nursing pursuant to M.G.L. c. 112, who is licensed to
				work as an educator in a school by the Department of Elementary and Secondary
				Education pursuant to
				603 CMR 7.00:
Educator
				Licensure and Preparation Program Approval
,
and who is appointed or assigned to a public school by a school
				committee or a board of health in accordance with M.G.L. c. 71, § 53 or
				employed by a superintendency district comprised of several towns in accordance
				with M.G.L. c. 71, §§ 53A and 53B or, who is employed, in the case of
				a charter or private school, by a board of trustees.
School Physician
means a licensed
				physician practicing in a school setting including but not limited to a
				physician who is appointed or employed by a school committee or board of health
				in accordance with M.G.L. c. 71, § 53, or employed by a superintendency
				district comprised of several towns in accordance M.G.L. c. 71, §§
				53A, 53B or, in the case of a charter or private school, by the board of
				trustees. School physician includes, but is not limited to, physicians assigned
				to examine children who apply for health certificates in order to obtain an
				employment permit pursuant to M.G.L. c. 71, § 54 and team
				physicians.
School Health Advisory/Wellness
				Committee
means a committee consisting of school and community
				members who advise a school district on its comprehensive, coordinated school
				health program.
Second Impact Syndrome
means a
				potentially lethal condition that can occur when a person sustains a head
				injury prior to complete healing of a previous brain injury, causing
				dysregulation of cerebral blood flow with subsequent vascular
				engorgement.
Sports
means extracurricular athletic
				activities.
Student
means a person enrolled for
				part-time or full-time attendance in an educational program operated by a
				school or school district, including home schoolers.
Teacher
means any person employed in a
				school or school district under a license listed in
				603 CMR 7.00:
Educator
				Licensure and Preparation Program Approval
or person employed to teach
				students in a non-public school.
Team Physician
means a physician
				assigned to an interscholastic football game played by any team representing a
				public secondary school in the Commonwealth pursuant to M.G.L. c. 71, §
				54A.
Trainer
means a person who provides
				students who participate in an extracurricular athletic activity with health
				and fitness instruction, including but not limited to the fundamental skills of
				performance, strength, or conditioning, but who is not licensed as an athletic
				trainer.
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
means a
				complex pathophysiological process affecting the brain, induced by traumatic
				biomechanical forces. TBI may be caused either by a direct blow to the head,
				face, neck or elsewhere on the body with an impulsive force transmitted to the
				head. TBI includes, but is not limited to, a concussion.
Volunteer
means an adult who
				volunteers as a game official, coach, assistant coach, team parent, physician,
				nurse, or in an authoritative role to assist students who are engaged in an
				extracurricular athletic activity.