Have you hugged your Athletic Trainer today?

First off, I want to thank all my followers for your understanding that I needed a little time off in February. What better place than a tiny (itty bitty) fishing village south of Cancun where the generator only runs for a few hours a day, the water is always lukewarm, nachos are considered a breakfast food and the fish are plentiful, but you have to throw them back. I might be a little crispy around the edges from standing on the bow of a boat, looking for bonefish for six days, but now I am clear of mind and ready for the rest of the year.

So like I said in the title, have you hugged your athletic trainer today? March is National Athletic Training month, so I thought this would be the perfect time to spotlight the athletic trainers living in the community. When you are in the stands at one of our local high school or CCGA sporting events, can you spot the trainer? If you look closely, you can usually identify them as the person wearing a fanny pack slung over their shoulder, typically holding a roll of tape, and attentively following the game to make sure no one has gone to ground during a play. If an athlete is injured, they are the first one to sprint off the sideline like a medic in a WWII film, running out to a soldier. After an assessment on the field, that player, if able, is taken to an exam table for treatment. Being on the sidelines for hundreds of games with the trainers, I am always amazed how they can treat a player, talk to the mama who is now leaning over the bleachers, and continually scan the field of play for injured players.

When the game is over, the team has won or lost, the injured player has been treated, you may think it’s time for the athletic trainer to go home, but that’s not likely. Think of the trainer as the jack-of-all-trades. After the game, they have to get off the bus or meet the team and start setting up treatment. The players who are beat up and sore from hard competition start filing in the training room for treatment before they go home. Injuries are assessed, ice packs are handed out and care coordinated for the rest of the week. Can the trainer go home now? No. Around this time, coaches start sticking their head in the training room, asking about the status of their athletes. Finally, our industrious athletic trainer gets a chance to leave, but only after he or she has cleaned up the training room and organized supplies. That is a game day in the life of an athletic trainer.

The Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC) is highly qualified in the care of athletes. Their fund of knowledge in regards to anatomy, physiology, biomechanics and rehabilitation equals or surpasses many other health care providers. Here are a few salient points that need to be highlighted about ATC’s in general:

1. Found in a variety of settings, including high schools, colleges, professional sports, youth sports, physical therapy clinics, physician offices, military, law enforcement, and large business campuses.
2. Health care providers.
3. Trained in CPR and AED use.
4. Required to have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree and to have passed a national certification exam.
5. Intelligent. Over 70 percent of Certified Athletic Trainers possess a Masters Degree or higher.
6. Part of the sports medicine team, which is made up of a variety of health care professionals.
7. Leaders in concussion recognition and management.
8. Scarce. Less than half of all high schools in the U.S. provide their student athletes access to a certified athletic trainer.
9. Responsible for the prevention, evaluation, and rehabilitation of orthopedic injuries.
10. Most importantly, athletic trainers save lives

Locally, Southeast Georgia Health System provides Sports Medicine services, including an ATC at two Glynn County High Schools (Glynn Academy and Brunswick High), Frederica Academy and McIntosh Academy. There is also an ATC who acts as a community liaison, helping to provide coverage for other local events, including the Bridge Run, Super Dolphin Day and many other community activities. Each ATC provides training to local coaches on CPR and concussion management. They also provide invaluable services by teaching student athletes all topics of healthy habits, including concussion management, injury treatment, rehabilitation, hydration, nutrition and heat illness. They work directly with coaches on injury management programs such as ACL injury prevention and the new FIFA 11+ program for injury prevention in soccer. They help to coordinate care of the injured athlete and are responsible for treatment programs and return to play protocols with oversight by myself in my role as the Sports Medicine Director for the Health System. Finally, they assist with the coordination of the county wide annual sports physicals and on the field management of spinal injuries with EMS services. Wow! That’s a lot to do.

Last year, my oldest son received his Eagle Scout. One of the cornerstone mottos of Scouts is “Be Prepared.” From my standpoint, all ATC’s exemplify this concept daily. They have to be prepared for everything. They prepare for injury, so it doesn’t become catastrophic. They prepare for emergencies by carrying around equipment they hope they will never use. They prepare for bad weather. They prepare, so the student athletes can perform to their fullest potential. They prepare, so all of your children and grandchildren, cousins, nephews and nieces can get out and play, knowing that if they go down, the first thing they are going to see is the athletic trainer—prepared, ready to take care of them.

I want to personally thank all of the ATCs that I have worked with, past and present, for their diligence and dedication to the athletes of Glynn County. If you see one, you should thank them too. (Hint: the fanny pack is a dead give-away that they are an athletic trainer!)

Go play.