Student death prompts new heat rules in Rockdale schools

<p>Rockdale County schools soon will have new hot-weather regulations to follow during outdoor activities.</p><p>The new rules stem from the death of Rockdale County High School football player Tyler L. Davis, 15, who died Aug. 1 from heat stroke after collapsing the previous day following a voluntary practice.</p><p>The regulations _ based on guidelines from the National Athletic Trainers Association _ require coaches to craft practice schedules around "apparent temperature," or how hot it is when both heat and humidity are measured.</p><p>"Some days, if your humidity index is fairly low, then your environmental temperature and apparent temperature may only be three to four degrees apart," said Bonnie Knight, assistant superintendent of management services for Rockdale schools. "But if humidity is really high, you could have a 10 degree difference."</p><p>The apparent temperature reading will determine how long athletes are outdoors during practice and how often they need water breaks, she said.</p><p>Schools have been following the guidelines voluntarily, but the system wanted to develop a formal policy for heat safety, Knight said.</p><p>Newton County schools are also looking into implementing systemwide regulations for outdoor practices, said Deborah Robertson, associate superintendent of administration.</p><p>In the meantime, the Georgia High School Association, which regulates athletics for the state's high schools, is looking at requiring each school system to develop a written heat policy and to keep thermometers on the field during practice. The association has fought against developing a statewide heat policy because of the geographic diversity of the state.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cda004)</p>