Coaches from across the mountains took part in a clinic focused on sports medicine on Friday.
Mission Hospital athletic trainers hosted seminars in the Asheville High School auditorium and conducted demonstration drills for 135 area coaches outside on the sports fields.
The aim was to help coaches diagnose and recognize symptoms of injuries and illnesses during practices or games throughout the coming school year. Coaches of both men and women’s sports attended from area school districts and parks and recreation leagues.
“I think it’s important because, while we try to be at everything we can be, as far as practices and as far as games, we’re never there 100 percent of the time,” Matt Smitley said, a sports medicine trainer at Mission Hospital. “If we can empower them to use these tools and these warning signs than we can show them – or whatever it may be – to see this, can help get these patients, these student athletes, the appropriate care that they need.”
There was also a focus on sudden cardiac arrest throughout the one-day seminar.
According to statistics, Mission Hospital says that one competitive athlete goes into cardiac arrest every three days on average in the United States.
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