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
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.
