FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Ellen Satlof, 214.637.6282, ext.159
IS INJURED ON THE SPORTS FIELD?
DALLAS – Picture this: you dropped your son off at football practice several hours ago and are now receiving a call from someone alerting you that there has been an accident and your son is being treated for a possible back injury.
Whether it’s football, basketball, field hockey or soccer, the odds of your son or daughter getting injured on the sports field are real, and could be significant. Who takes care of your child if there is an injury? Does the school have an emergency plan in place?
Certified athletic trainers (ATC) are most often the quick-thinking staff members who are on the scene first when a sports injury occurs. Yet a 1994 membership study by the National Athletic Trainer’s Association (NATA) revealed that less than 35 percent of U.S. high schools have a certified athletic trainer on staff. This summer the American Medical Association adopted a policy recommending that all high school athletic programs provide certified athletic trainer for sports activities.
Certified athletic trainers have, at minimum, a bachelor’s degree, usually in athletic training, health, physical education or exercise science and must have fulfilled the requirements for certification established by the National Athletic Trainer’s Board of Certification, Inc.
(NATABOC). The NATABOC examination requires knowledge in: the prevention of athletic injuries; recognition, evaluation and immediate care of athletic injuries; rehabilitation and reconditioning of athletic injuries and health care administration.
"Before practice a certified athletic trainer would probably tape, bandage, wrap and brace an athlete to either protect a current problem or help prevent an injury from occurring altogether. During practice, the ATC would evaluate injuries and determine whether the injury needs a physician’s attention, " said John Powell, Ph.D, ATC, director of NATA’s High School Project. "It’s the athletic trainer’s role to ensure continual communication between the injured athlete, physician, coach and parents on when and how the athlete can return to practice and competition."
The National Athletic Trainer’s Association (NATA) is a not-for-profit organization with more than 23,000 members nationwide. The NATA is committed to advancing, encouraging and improving the athletic training profession.
Founded in 1950 with a membership of approximately 200 athletic trainers, the NATA is based in Dallas, Texas, and provides a variety of services to its membership, including continuing education, governmental affairs and public relations. The NATA also publishes the Journal of Athletic Training, a quarterly scientific journal, and the NATA News, a monthly magazine for members.