Top 5 Reasons You Need A Certified Athletic Trainer More Than Your New Jerseys
Although Athletic Training has a rich history, the profession as an organized entity is relatively new. As with all new professions, it can take time for the field to reach its full potential. Athletic Trainers can be seen in all types of settings; High School, Collegiate, and Professional sports, performing arts, outpatient rehabilitation, physician practices, and many others. However, one of the places an AT is needed most is on the field of sport, caring directly for the physically active population. There is no health professional more qualified to provide comprehensive care for athletes on-site than a Certified Athletic Trainer. Their expertise is valuable, their services needed, and their presence is an absolute necessity in today’s world of competitive sport. Take a look at some of the unique qualities Athletic Trainers possess, and you’ll clearly see why every single athletic program should have a Certified Athletic Trainer.
- Risk Mitigation.
Athletic Trainers are trained to anticipate risk for injury and decrease that risk wherever they can. From assessing field conditions to movement patterns and muscular weakness, ATs have a keen sense of what causes (and prevents) injury. Having a set of eyes on this part of your sports program can prevent a lot of unwanted issues. Injury risk mitigation procedures can be in the form of exercise program development, organization of pre-participation physicals, assessment of weather conditions, monitoring hydration levels, education, and many others. Sometimes the things you don’t think about can be the most detrimental to your sports program. Not all injuries are preventable. Take a look here at some of the most ridiculous injuries that have happened to athletes. Certainly the responsible thing is to attempt to prevent any injuries wherever possible. Putting a Certified Athletic Trainer in place can help you with this, allow you to put your mind at ease, and keep you focused on other responsibilities of running your athletic program.
- Emergency Preparedness.
Athletes are not always the only ones in need of Emergency care. I remember being on the care team for an injured athlete who had suffered a severe laceration in front of several thousand people. Believe it or not, we spent more time helping the EMTs with people in the crowd who were passing out from the sight of blood than the actual injured athlete.
Sometimes it’s the coaching staff or other bystander who needs a helping hand. Take a look here at the story of a coach who suffered a cardiac arrest. Good thing the AT was onsite to provide care and save his life. Here are a few more stories where an Athletic Trainer saved a life:
Athletic Trainer Uses AED to save 15-year-old Hockey Player
Athletic Trainer Saves Basketball Official’s Life
Athletic Trainer Saves Crenshaw Basketball Coach Ed Waters
These are just a few recent stories. These things happen all the time, and it’s best to be well-prepared with a Certified Athletic Trainer on Staff.
- Better Care.
Every Certified Athletic Trainer is required to earn a minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree from a university that is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE). In years past, this has been a minimum requirement of a bachelor’s level of education. Starting in 2020, the minimum requirement will be to earn a Master’s level education. The major focus of the rigorous educational curriculum is focused on caring for athletes at every level. Having someone on the field of play with this level of training is absolutely priceless, and there’s no substitute for it.
- Limiting Liability
Because coaches, parents, and other well-meaning individuals do not have (in most cases) specific medical training, having a Certified Athletic Trainer on staff can take a lot of liability off of the team, coaches, staff, parents, and others associated with your athletic program. One surefire way to decrease liability risk is to keep untrained people from dealing with injuries and make sure that qualified medical personnel are on-site. Failure to do so could increase liability risk, land your athletic program in hot water. Take for example this case where a family was paid $8 Million because of a catastrophic injury. Allegations include “improper and inadequate supervision, training and officiating, and a lack of qualified medical personnel” during the time of injury. Or this case of a school and coach who were sued for negligence during a runner’s injury. Could a Certified Athletic Trainer have been involved to prevent this? It’s a possibility. Better to have an Athletic Trainer and not need one than to be caught without one.
- Better Outcomes.
Because your injured athletes will be working with a specialist, you can be confident that they will return to the field of play as quickly and safely as possible. Having an Athletic Trainer guide their care from injury to return to play will remove a lot of guess-work along the way, especially when it comes to the rehab process. This will produce healthier, stronger athletes. In turn, you will have a healthier, stronger athletic program.
When you’re looking at next year’s plan for your athletic program, make sure that it starts with your Certified Athletic Trainer. In today’s world of highly competitive sport, ATs are a necessity and worth their weight in gold. To learn more about Athletic Trainers, visit www.nata.org or stop by one of our clinic locations!