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A bill aimed at increasing safety for high school athletes has cleared its first Senate committee.

The legislation would require all high schools to make cooling stations available at all practices and games to help prevent heat stroke.

The cooling stations would also be required to have cold-water immersion tubs capable of rapidly cooling athletes if they become overheated.

“We rank 14th as a state nationally for sport safety standards, but yet we rank first in high school sports related deaths and that’s specifically due to heat stroke,” said Robert Sefcik with the Florida Alliance for Sports Medicine.

The bill sponsor says funding for the additional safety features would likely come from both public and private dollars.