The Zachary Martin Act, named in memory of a Fort Myers Riverdale High football player who collapsed after running sprints in a summer football workout in 2017, requires schools to have cooling tubs or other means to quickly lower the body temperature of athletes experiencing heat trauma.
“It’s common knowledge that he was not put in a cold-water immersion tub or cooled off with ice,” said Laurie Giordano, Martin’s mother.
She created a foundation that has purchased and donated cooling tubs for schools and campaigned for passage of the law, which takes effect on Wednesday.
According to a legislative analysis produced for the bill, Florida led the country in heat-related deaths among student-athletes, with at least four since 2011.