Anytime there are injuries, many people want to know if there was anything that could have been done to prevent them. While not all injuries are preventable there are steps schools can take to make sure your student athlete is as safe as possible.
Factfinder 12 investigators looked into athletic trainers in Kansas and how many schools have access to them.
Across Kansas roughly 120,000 high school students are involved in sports, just a fraction of the seven million across the country.
On any given day and with any sport, injuries can happen.
Just ask Jennifer Hudson. She is a full-time athletic trainer at Wichita East High with a goal of being at every game and practice.
“I cover all of the games. It gets hard when we have multiple games going at multiple times, and that’s what makes practices hard. They’re all practicing at the same time,” said Hudson.
In Wichita Public Schools, Hudson is one of seven athletic trainers, one for each high school. Three are full-time, while four are contracted through Via Christi and are at schools every day for practices and games.
Other districts and schools are not as lucky.
Last month the Kansas Athletic Trainers Society sent out a survey to see how many schools have athletic trainers.
Of the 353 high schools, 61 percent of the schools have responded. Of them, more than half (52%) have some level of access to athletic trainers. (See a breakdown of the numbers below)
Compared to national numbers Kansas is ahead of the curve. 30 percent of high schools in the U.S. do not have access to an athletic trainer.
“Athletic training sometimes is viewed as a luxury, which it absolutely should not be,” said Padfield.
Mark Padfield, the President of the Kansas Athletic Trainers Society, believes if a school offers athletics it needs to have a trained medical professional there.
“Our job is to make sure these kids are safe and we take it very seriously,” said Padfield.
A lack of finances is usually the biggest reason schools skip the trainer and when budgets are made, Padfield says athletic trainers sometimes get put on the back burner.
He wants to see that change and hopefully have a trainer at every high school and ultimately cut back on injuries.
Kansas does not currently have a requirement for schools to employee an athletic trainer. The decision is left up to districts and schools.
Click here for a link to an article from Journal of Athletic Trainers, titled Athletic Directors’ Barriers to Hiring Athletic Trainers in High Schools.
Kansas Athletic Trainers Survey sent out Oct. 26, 2015 (Preliminary numbers, schools still responding to survey. Numbers as of Nov. 5, 2015)
1A
97 schools
Schools responded 40
Schools with AT services 7
Response Rate 40%
Have AT Services 18%
2A
64 schools
Schools responded 34
Schools with AT services 11
Response Rate 53%
Have AT service 33%
3A
64 schools
Schools responded 43
Schools with AT services 24
Response Rate 67%
Have AT Service 55%
4A
64 schools
Schools responded 47
Schools with AT services 29
Response Rate 73%
Have AT Service 61%
5A
32 schools
Schools responded 26
Schools with AT services 21
Response Rate 81%
Have AT Service 81%
6A
32 schools
Schools responded 26
Schools with AT services 21
Response Rate 81%
Have AT Service 81%
Total schools: 353
Total Schools responded: 216
Total Schools with AT services: 113
Percent schools responded: 61%
Percent of responding schools with AT services: 52%
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://www.kwch.com/news/local-news/kansas-ahead-of-nation-to-have-athletic-trainers-at-high-schools/36282294